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Chapter Text

His older siblings had been good to him, Seonghwa thought as he lay curled up below an outcropping of rock in deep, dark waters that wrapped him in a cold, unforgiving blanket. He was used to these temperatures. This was home.

He had grown up in the Light, but after his pod had been captured and gutted by Landfolk, he had learned that living in the Dark was safer. No Landfolk ever bothered him here.

His throat was conjuring an echoing cry of despair before he knew he was the one making it, for a moment stunned by the sound of mourning and loss. Fins flared as he burrowed his head into the curve of his arm, discontented rumbles ripping from his throat as memories swamped his thoughts.

Flashing of images of a lifetime ago, warm bodies and warm waters and the Light. He had been a new calf, still grey and pale as he had not yet grown. He remembers the feeling of intimidating yet gentle curved talons, gripping him kindly and softly as he strayed too close to the drop-off.

His pod had lived in a territory of colour, of life, and of many abundance. He was never hungry. He was never scared. He had made friends with the quick fish and armoured turtles, floating in a kaleidoscope of coral with no care in the sea.

That was until the Landfolk invaded. Landfolk had mastered the art of decoy and of blending in. What he mistook for fins and scales were hidden limbs and outer skins that made them facsimiles of Seafolk.

His matriarch, the Life-giver, was wary and warned him and his siblings of the strangers in their territory, and had kept these intruders at bay. No Landfolk made it close to the pod, no Seafolk made it close to the pod, without the Matriarch’s permission. She ruled these waters and all respected her wishes. Except, of course, those not from these waters.

Landfolks strayed too close, always too close, and Seonghwa remembered his father, one of the pod’s Protectors, grabbing him tightly, talons prickling against his skin, and racing away from the Landfolks as one had approached him and his turtle friend. He remembers being impatient but submissive to the ministrations of his Protector, who had cooed and crooned when they were safe, rumbling against soft grey skin gently. He had been safe, with his Protector.

He had been safe with his siblings too. Elder Brother was a Protector, and as the Matriarch had made boundaries, his Brother reinforced them. The Landfolk had never listened to the Matriarch, and the Protectors all knew it.

Whenever young Seonghwa had wandered or explored the territory that had once been safe to do so, Elder Brother would always rush in and hover over him. His gills would flare and his teeth would be bared in hostility. And when he looked up, he would realise that his Elder Brother had been just in time to stop a Landfolk from getting too close.

The other siblings were grey and pale like Seonghwa, and were as protected as he was. They were like a school of fish, always together and causing mischief as a group. But Seonghwa was the youngest and always important. Matriarch and Protectors liked his smallness and his soft chirps and were always careful.

And then one day they were gone.

He had been older, bold colours coming in as grey skin seemed to melt away over time. He swam with his siblings and Matriarch and father in the large open Light, long gone were the days of colourful plateaus of coral. They were strong enough to traverse the great expanses of the ocean, and would do so in the safety of the Light.

They would get visitors: dolphins, whales, the occasional school of mackerel or tuna, and even occasionally sharks, who knew better than to mess with a pod of Seafolk.

Until one day a big shape rumbled through the Light, loud and unbidden in their peaceful ocean. The shadow it cast had crested over the pod and without warning, sharp pieces of tree with rocks on the front had stabbed into the water and through the Matriarch’s spine.

Panic erupted instantly, the Protectors launching themselves at the Landfolk craft while Seonghwa and the other young siblings desperately tried to help the Matriarch. When they reached her side, the piece of wood through her started retracting and pulling her along with it.

Warbling fear and confusion, Seonghwa had retreated— and a net had descended into the waters and gathered his pod in its tangles in what felt like only a few breaths. From his spot, free from the Landfolk devices, Seonghwa had shrieked desperation and loss, while his pod had chirped and rumbled terror and agony.

He could nothing but watch as the water turned red and his pod disappeared into the Landfolk’s craft. And then they were gone, leaving the smell of their blood behind and nothing else.

Seonghwa jolted into wakefulness, slamming his head into the rock above him. He snarled discontent, flashing teeth momentarily before he realised that what had hurt him could not fight back. He huffed, shaking himself and leaving the cave he had slept in. His pod was gone, but now he was safe in the Dark, where no Landfolk could touch him. But he was alone and alone he had been for over most of his life.

He was now his full bold colors and now his own Protector. He was without a Matriarch, yes, but he was without siblings and a father, so it didn’t seem fitting to find a new pod.

He flicked his tail and swam along the floor of the canyon he lived in. If he looked up, he could see only an inkling of Light, but here he was safe, so there he would not go. He fed rarely in this territory, surviving off whale falls and corals that ended up in his canyon. So when he did go hungry, it was a matter of finding his next meal… instead of being given it like when he was a calf— no. He was in the Now. Not in the Then. No calves and no pods, just him.

He had long gone hungry, now. The corals were dying and the whales had migrated away for the winter. This was nothing new, though. He had lived many winters and many periods of starvation. If he strayed into the Light, he would find more food, but safety was here and he refused to leave the only place where he would avoid the fate of his family. 

So he lay in wait.

Sleep dragged at his fins again and he went back to his little cave.

If he did not wake, that was fine.

His existence was one of loneliness and quiet, perhaps it would be kinder in death.

Chapter Text

The sound of the tappity-tap of his fingers on his keyboard may have been driving him to madness. He wouldn’t be surprised, in all honesty, because this paperwork had been taking hours to get through. Yes, he should hire someone to look through the legal documents for him. No, he doesn’t plan on allocating any of the funds to hiring someone, because he could read AND he could somewhat understand legal jargon. They were already low on money, being a publicly funded animal rescue, and any more money going down the drain would mean less help for their injured patients and he couldn’t risk that.

So, he sat before the tax documents, head bowed and face in his hands as the clock struck 10pm. Most of the employees had clocked out and gone home, leaving those in higher positions to do other work in the peace and quiet.

Well, it would have been peace and quiet if Yunho stopped humming the newest girl group tune. From the now, probably hundreds, of times he’s heard it, it’s something about baseball and that wasn’t interesting in the slightest and even if it was, Yunho was certainly not making his life any easier by doing choreography in the corner of his office.

Hongjoong sighed softly, before straightening his back and saying with a strained but firm voice, “Either leave or shut up because I cannot handle you and taxes right now.” 

The music stopped almost instantly, Yunho mumbling a short, “Whoops, sorry hyung.” 

And then… It was too quiet.

Hongjoong groaned, standing and pushing his chair in. He had grown accustomed to Yunho’s voice and now that it was quieted, everything was so much louder. In search of something else to fill the void, Hongjoong reached toward his cup of coffee.

He definitely didn’t knock it off his desk and it definitely wasn’t all over the floor of the office now, puddle expanding menacingly over the linoleum. As it neared the rug, the exhausted man just watched, while Yunho leapt into action. 

With the speed of an energetic puppy, a paper towel landed on the spilled coffee and started soaking up the mess. 

Hongjoong kept staring, before sighing even heavier than before as overwhelmed tears pricked the corner of his eye, threatening to spill over like his coffee had just done… Ok, that thought was not helping in any way. 

Yunho’s head whipped around at the sound of sniffles and soon he stood next to Hongjoong, a respectable distance but still comfortingly close, slightly crouched so he’d be eye level with the short man. “It’s ok, it’s just coffee, I can make you another one!”

“No, no. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“You are crying over a cup of bean juice, you are not fine, hyung,” Yunho retorted.

“Shut up. It just splashed into my eyes, it’s just a reflex.”

Nodding sagely, the taller man replied, “Yes, the coffee that fell to the floor that is at least 5 feet away from your head splashed into your eyes. I see now you are a brilliant and wonderfully intelligent man. I shall never doubt you again.”

Hongjoong glared at him, wiping tears away and gesturing towards the hell that was his computer screen, “This is taking forever and we have to update the care spreadsheets and prep food for tomorrow on top of finishing tax prep.”

Yunho nodded again, this time with genuine understanding, and sat down in the chair Hongjoong had abandoned. Within 20 seconds of glancing through, he said confidently, “I can handle this. You go get a new coffee and a snack and when you get back we can divide the spreadsheet and fill it out together.”

“Ain’t no way you can get through those documents in the time it’ll take me to get new coffee and a meal,” replied Hongjoong incredulously.

“Wanna bet?” Yunho shot back with a bright smile.

“Do I look like I have the money to spend on bets, Yunho?” Then after a pause, “Don’t answer that question, it’ll hurt my feelings.”

Yunho snorted, before responding cheerfully, “Aye-aye, Captain.” 

Hongjoong scoffed, before playfully ruffling the taller man’s hair and walking out of the office towards the break room.

The walk was down a corridor. Not a hallway, a corridor. The ceilings were tall with skylights and the walls were lined with visiting kids’ drawings, Employee-of-the-Month plaques and legally required posters detailing worker’s rights and anti-discrimination laws that definitely felt jarringly out of place in a hallway so full of personality. The plaques were almost all Yunho, but the earlier years detailed individuals like Eden and Maddox, or a group of veterinary staff that referred to themselves and Block B. 

Hongjoong glanced out the skylights after staring at his friends’ awards, noting dully that the sky was dark, and that due to the light pollution, no stars were visible: it was a shame, really. He imagined the arm of the milky way would look stunning in this view.

Continuing on, there were three doors. On his left was the breakroom, and in the breakroom would be the bathrooms, kitchen and rest area. In front of him was the door leading to the pools, veterinary wing of the building, and food prep. On his right was the only section available to the public, which was an informational museum setup that had a glass wall looking into the pools. 

He took a left, glancing out the window in the breakroom to the pools that had a small counter and sitting space where employees could eat lunch and look out at the patients. No one stirred, and the only sounds were of pipes pumping seawater into the enclosures. 

Hongjoong sighed softly, before grabbing some instant coffee packets and filling the well-used electric kettle with water. Waiting for it to boil, he sat at the couch that was on the same wall the door to the break room was. 

The couch was soft, but worn, and had indents where people had sat over the years. It was comfortably cushioned, and dipping slightly under his tense frame. The pillows were covered in satin pillowcases that were washed weekly, and a blanket crocheted by a patron lay tantalizingly close on the back of the couch. 

He’d fallen asleep so many times on this couch that there was a cork-board hanging up with polaroids of sleeping Hongjoong and a crowd of employees all taking a selfie with the dates of the photographs written with a bunch of tiny notes and drawings. The cork-board had been decorated with the large letters, ones you would get from a party kit, with the title “Incident Reports” at the top.

He didn’t mind, though. In every photo were his friends and even if he had been unconscious, they were having good fun and making memories that would last a lifetime… 

Maybe he’d lay his head down for a moment…

Hongjoong snorted as he woke up, electric kettle hissing as the boiling water writhed inside the pot. Quickly, he was grabbing the kettle and packets and filling a large mug with both water and instant coffee. The smell wasn’t as great as fresh coffee but it still seemed to wake up his mind. 

He stretched as the coffee and hot water intermingled, going to the refrigerator and pulling out a homemade fried rice that someone had brought in, making sure to also snatch the kimchi his mother had made for everyone during her visit last week. There was barely enough for one meal left, so it was clear the company had enjoyed her gift.

He warmed up the rice and kimchi and devoured it monstrously, smacking his lips at the spice but quickly soothing his tongue with a scalding hot sip of coffee. He definitely didn’t make a spectacularly high pitched noise of pain. No one had witnessed it, therefore it didn’t exist. Trees in a forest or something, that's how the saying went.

He was retracing his steps back to the office after cleaning up, caffeinated and full of leftovers.

He was about to walk in the doorway, when the phone shrieked an alert and instantly, his hands were expertly guiding the phone to his face and shushing Yunho simultaneously.

“KQ Marine Center and Veterinary Hospital, this is Hongjoong, how can we assist you?”

There was sound from the other side of the phone, panicked yelling and a distinctly not human snarl, and the voice said hurriedly, “There’s a merman! There’s a merman and there's so much blood. It’s dying! It’s dying! Please come quick.”

Hongjoong straightened up, hand gesturing to Yunho wildly as he got the location from the caller. Yunho was contacting their on-call team of volunteers within moments and with barely time to waste, the KQ Rescue Team was tearing out of the parking lot.

Chapter Text

He was dying. They were dying.

This fact was irrefutable; water turning red and the smell of iron making his head spin as if he had stuck his face in a whirlpool. The pull of exhaustion as his body was draining of blood drowned him in confusion. Him, a creature who was made for survival submerged, was now fighting for his life.

He couldn’t die now, though, he had to protect his partner. He tried to open his eyes but his body seemed to disobey his wishes

Many partnerships were different, he noted dully. There were mates and pods and families and then there was him and his partner. Not mates, but something as deep and equally as dedicated. If he had the words, he would express this to everyone: his partner was his and he was his partner’s and they cared and hunted together and twisted together when it got a bit too cold.

It… was cold now. It was cold and he couldn’t find his partner and he knew he was close to him, could smell the distinct musk of the mer he had spent years with… but he couldn’t touch him, couldn’t feel him and that made his soul shake and his heart race.

He snarled and finally, his eyes opened, adrenaline shooting through him like the weapon of the Landfolk that had brought this pain upon him. The water was thick with blood, but he could see shapes and smell the animals, the prey, around him.

He grabbed the nearest limb, hearing the Landfolk shriek, and brought it to his mouth, biting down on tough rubbery protective gear desperately. His claws tore at the leg and his body twisted and writhed even as his body shook with agony and his vision whited out.

As strong as he thought he was, he wasn’t strong enough.

Someone grabbed him, earthy scent and flowery undertone distracting him for a moment while their arms brought him away from his prey. The adrenaline had sustained him for a last effort, and now, it left him. It slipped through his claws like a little fish too quick for him to catch.

The arms held tighter as his body twitched and tensed as waves of pain began filtering his senses away; a voice, something softer than any mer, began singing. The words he didn’t understand, but the gentle vibration in the chest of the one holding him eased his mind.

And then the screaming started.

This voice, he did know, this voice he had listened to for years and it howled in agony as few words made it out, “Wooyoung! Wooyoung! It hurts! It hurts!”

Yeosang —

Wooyoung’s mind flickered into wakefulness, the fog of pain and despair clearing as his anger poured in.

These fuckers had messed with his partner for the last time, he swore to the Light he’d kill them all.

In a breath, he had been drifting off in the arms of a— a LANDFOLK. Wooyoung shoved himself away, claws digging into the sand as he pulled himself blindly towards the sound of Yeosang’s agonised vocalisations. They were long keening cries, out of place coming from the calm and steady mer, and they stabbed into his brain like the teeth of a shark.

Wooyoung knew the moment he reached Yeosang by the familiar tail beneath his claws, but what he didn’t expect was the sections of dorsal fin that were crudely ripped away by the Landfolk’s tools, red and white muscle and tissue torn and twisted cruelly. He was stunned. He had seen his partner full and unharmed and now, he was bleeding profusely with giant chunks of flesh simply gone.

Wooyoung’s hesitation was what did him in, the Landfolk from earlier wrestling him away, subduing the surprised mer. Distantly, he heard crestfallen cries and begging for the Lights’ help, along with the bloody screams of his partner, and it took several minutes of laying in the arms of a Landfolk and screaming for him to realise he was the one crying and begging.

There wasn’t any warning when the sharp prick in his shoulder burst through his awareness with a new wave of pain.

And then the world faded to black.

Yeosang knew he was in pain but whatever the Landfolk had done to him after his throat started grating from screaming, it was making his brain feel like it was in a cloud of squid ink. He was alive, at least for the moment, and he could feel the presence of beings around him, but his arms felt like they were sinking towards the sand and his tail was alarmingly numb.

No amount of alarm could wake him from this haze, though, and he comfortably lay still, weird water passing through his torso gills to keep him breathing.

The Landfolk were chattering, mumbling and chirping away within reach. He felt no need to fight. He felt no need to flee. He listened as they vocalized softly and he couldn’t muster up the energy to fear what they intended with him. Perhaps he should’ve felt panic, locked within the recesses of his mind as the very species that hurt him also worked around him. But his body was at ease and his eyelids were heavy.

The only thing he had grown to dislike was a beeping sound, like a weird distress call, near his head. It rhythmically peeped, and when he tried to focus on it, the sounds got louder and the beeps closer. Yeosang tried to lift his head, but he couldn’t find the strength.

Something changed, something in whatever the Landfolk were doing, and suddenly the haze was thicker and his eyes nearly rolled back as unconsciousness tried to conquer his already weak brain. It was winning, significantly, until a noise he was familiar with reached his ears and he jolted into awareness fiercer than the fog could defy.

Wooyoung was close, within the weird reef of the Landfolk, and Yeosang only felt fear at the thought of being separated from him. That beeping got faster and the Landfolk around him began vocalizing louder and quicker, only setting him further on edge.

Wooyoung made no sound again though, and something in that brought Yeosang to the abyss of desperation, his head lifting slightly and his claws twitching with the effort he made to move.

His body wasn’t reacting, not like he wanted; and suddenly the calm he had felt over lying in one place was inverted and he began breathing heavier, gills flaring wildly. There wasn’t enough water, though, and he could only whine. There was no room for adrenaline, not with the fog and the small stream of water into his gills and the feeling of heaviness in his bones.

He tried blinking, attempting to clear the blur from his vision. It worked, if only slightly; he could see the weird flexible rock he lay on, could see the water of the oceans not too far. It smelled like the ocean, at least, and he couldn’t reason away the instinctual need he felt to get into the water. His body didn’t move though, and his head fell back down onto a cushion that softly bent beneath him.

For a moment, he closed his eyes…

Wooyoung felt floaty. That may have been the water he was in or it could be the things the Landfolk had given him. He couldn’t quite rationalise the thoughts he was having, but he could see Yeosang through a clear wall and that was all he needed.

His own body had been tended to, injuries sealed and numbed, but Yeosang lay under the ministrations of the Landfolk, blood vibrant against the backdrop of light coloured rock and piercing white light.

His partner was pretty in this light, he thought deliriously, gills filtering slowly. The browns and blacks and speckles of white were slightly washed out but he could see him clearly and that was a blessing.

There were three Landfolk working on Yeosang, shoving what looked like blankets into the bleeding spots, putting pressure on the wounds. They spoke to each other, and quietly, Wooyoung had begun to study them one by one.

The one that had held Wooyoung, a large male with dark hair and high brows and a sharp jaw, was holding the blankets to the remaining part of Yeosang’s left fin. The blankets were soaked with red and the Landfolk was tense and shaking with the effort of trying to stop the bleeding.

The next was a smaller male with near identical hair, but a rounder jaw and a softer voice. He was stuffing the wounds along Yeosang’s side, and he was the one speaking in a sharp tone to the others. He looked relaxed, but alert.

The last was a tall male with brown hair with highlights of light color like a halo around his head, his hands busy working on the missing sections of dorsal fin. He was focused and seemed distracted.

The last Landfolk in the room sat closer to Wooyoung, watching him with narrowed eyes that had a curtain of dark hair covering one. He seemed to be the one in charge, although the small one was loud and authoritative.

Wooyoung stared back, trying to get an idea of what this thing was thinking. Its eyes were bright and alert, though they did look like pits in the middle of its eyeballs with how dark the pupil was. Its brow was high, and its jaw delicate and soft. It looked tired, with bags beneath its eyes and a scowl on its face.

Wooyoung hummed thoughtfully, lazily drifting closer.

This Landfolk was small, the smallest of the group, actually, but its shoulders were set and its back was straightened. It looked like Wooyoung’s old Protector: stern, resting bitch face, and probably all bark and no bite.

Wooyoung glanced at Yeosang, crooning when he saw his partner’s eyes open and dazed.

If he felt how he looked, then that mer needed cuddles and to be protected and these Landfolk were keeping him from his partner. He flared his fins, wincing in pain, and bared his teeth at the small eldest Landfolk.

If he got out, no, when he got out, he’d tear these monsters apart.

It was only a matter of time.

Chapter Text

He was in the middle of, probably, REM sleep, when his phone shrieked as a call made it through the Do-Not-Disturb. San had two options: ignore the idiot who decided to contact him in the middle of the night, or answer the phone and never go back to sleep.

In a second, he was sitting up, phone to his ear as he said in a croaking morning voice, “Sup, Hongjoong. Finally lose your mind?”

“Code Red, Twisted Cove beach, we need you here in 10.” The voice of his boss was sharp and left no room for argument. But San was San and well, he wanted to sleep.

“10 minutes? Twisted Cove is 20 minutes away.”

“Get your ass over here, two mer got hit by a fishing boat’s propellers—“

San was out of bed now, slipping into jeans and his protective gear, vest tight over his black sleep shirt. “I’ll be there in 10.”

Skidding to a stop in the almost-empty parking lot of the beach, San could see the heavy duty flashlights and lanterns from where they glowed in the curve of a worn plateau of rock, waves crashing under the moonlight.

There were several people there, and he knew for a fact, Hongjoong was one.

But more importantly, the two battered and bloody forms of a Reef Mer and Ocean Mer lay bobbing in the tide, distressed cries echoing along the shore.

This was one of the worst kinds of rescues.

Racing down the rocks and sand, San winced as memories of other mer flashed unbidden through his head.

Just like this, on a beach not too far from where he was now, had been the ripped and ravaged body of a mer that had been the victim of both illegal mer hunting and the cruelty of teenagers whose rage far surpassed their empathy.

He had been the first one on the scene, along with the concerned citizen who found the dying animal, and he was the first one who had held the mer as it died.

Harpoons had torn and gouged at spinal cord and organs, and stab wounds had pierced sensitive flesh and arteries. This individual had suffered greatly, and yet the calm and resignation in their eyes had shaken San to his core.

San had knelt next to this peaceful yet pained creature and gently lifted her into his arms, gently shushing the whimpers that she whined into his vest.

And he had stayed there.

And he had been swarmed by his colleagues, who all seemed to see something he couldn’t.

And he had held her until his arms shook with the weight of a corpse, until his eyes had run out of tears and until his closest friends had to  pull him away from the cold body of an innocent being who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And San hadn’t ever forgotten the look in her eyes, her deep brown eyes that were bloodshot and dazed. Hadn’t ever forgotten how her sharp claws had been gentle as they held onto him like a lifeline.

And San had made it his duty that day, that horrible day, that he wouldn’t let that happen again. Wouldn’t let another innocent life be ripped away by the cruelty of others.

But as he stared down at the two Mer that had been broken and beaten, he, for the first time since that day, felt the same twist in his stomach. There was too much blood. There was too much visible bone.

He knelt down gently beside the Ocean Mer, whose eyes swam wildly in their sockets, blood foamed around their mouth and whose lovely grey patterning was torn into by marks of unyielding metal. Whose left fin had been severed off completely, a bloody stump all that was left.

He looked at this beautiful creature and couldn’t help the tears that flooded his face.

“—an. San!” Yunho’s voice called, somewhat desperately.

The man looked up and instantly jumped into action as he realized the Ocean Mer had latched onto the taller man’s rubber boots with its teeth, claws weakly but insistently pulling at the protective gear covering Yunho’s legs.

San grabbed the Mer’s shoulders, lifting and pulling the poor thing away, watching as their long tail whipped around like a snake at the sudden movement. He sat back, laying the Mer’s back against his chest and hugging it to hold its arms to its sides.

The Ocean Mer yowled and snarled, straining to escape, but eventually the exhaustion took over and it went limp in his arms. Its eyes were wild, and its tail refused to keep still. It breathed heavily, waves crashing in to fill the Mer’s gills. San shushed it gently, lifting his head as the others: Yunho, Hongjoong, Jongho and one of the volunteers, likely Seeun or Hunter, began making a fuss over the other Mer.

The other Mer had begun to retch, blood spraying from their mouth as their body began twitching in the throes of agony. The Reef Mer writhed, Yunho wrestling it into a similar position that San was in with the Ocean Mer. The Reef Mer groaned, twitching and convulsing in Yunho’s arms, before letting out a broken, desperate call.

The Mer in San’s arms was moving before he had the chance to warn the others, and it was pulling itself towards the group of Rescuers with surprising speed. The Reef Mer kept crying out, though, with less and less power behind each vocalization.

San leapt forward and grabbed the Ocean Mer as it paused, seemingly taking in the entire situation in. Its eyes never left the Reef Mer, body trembling with the strain to hold itself up.

San pulled it away, Jongho, Hongjoong, and yes, it was Hunter, began preparing the Reef Mer for transport.

The Ocean Mer cried softly, but didn’t make another move to escape.

And so, San sat there, shushing this hurting creature who was clearly feeling distress and pain unimaginable. The Mer rumbled in distress, the sound higher pitched and fearful instead of low and threatening.

San sang softly, a gentle song about the end of a day, doing well and deserving rest. This Mer, injured as such, would likely not survive, and so maybe he could provide respite in the form of a lullaby to send this individual off.

When San finally came back to himself, the others were kneeling around him, tending to the Mer that lay still in his arms.

Fearfully, San sat up straighter, asking sharply, “It’s… it’s still alive, right?”

Hongjoong replied evenly, though with a concerned glance, “Yes, we’ve sedated him. The Reef Mer is in the truck with Hunter and Jongho. He’s stable, for now. That may change quickly, so we need to move. Can you help us, San?”

San thought for a moment, reeling at the change that happened while he had lost himself to singing to the Mer, “Yeah—Yeah I can.”

After getting a gurney, they move the segments into place to make room for the Mer’s fins and arms, moving it slowly into place and taking their spots on either side and lifting the gurney.

They moved the Mer to the truck, moving it up the ramp and into an inflatable pool of water so the poor thing could still breathe. The other Mer lay in its own pool, Hunter cleaning its wounds and Jongho fixing an IV into its wrist.

San and Yunho knelt down and began doing the same for the Ocean Mer as Hongjoong closed up and started the truck.

The drive back to the Marine Centre was short but full of turns and with every turn, the Ocean Mer twitched and hummed and the Reef Mer stayed concerningly quiet.

Hongjoong backed up to the main bay door expertly, and as soon as the truck was open, they were moving both Mer towards the veterinary wing. The Ocean Mer was patched up quickly with the entire team focusing on getting it ready for the quarantine pool.

It was less than 30 minutes to get the Ocean Mer in its pool and then, when Hunter had to leave and Hongjoong began monitoring the Ocean Mer, the last 3 began to carefully work on the Reef Mer.

There was no guarantee that this individual would survive, but even so, the rescue crew wouldn’t give up, and within a couple of hours, with the Ocean Mer awake and angry, they gently placed the Reef Mer into the same quarantine pool and stepped away.

The Ocean Mer was protective, if the aggressive scenting and checking every inch of the half awake Reef Mer was any indication. Both were clearly bonded, but to what extent, San was unsure. The pair could have been mates, bonded members of a Bachelor Pod, or  just happened to be in the same accident and grew close through trauma.

Hongjoong sighed, “I’m going to stay. You can leave, guys. I dont think they are any danger to each other.”

Yunho stretched, checking his phone, “It’s 3am. We all should get rest. They’ll live for the night. You should go home Hongjoong hyung.”

San frowned, “I can stay instead. I have the morning shift anyway.”

Jongho glanced at the older three, and turned, saying as he took off his bloodied vest, “Well, I’m going. See you later. Never wake me up this early again please.”

“No promises. Our job is to help injured Mer.” Hongjoong replied sharply.

“Yeah, yeah.”

The door to the parking lot opened, closed and suddenly, the elder three were left in silence.

Yunho sat in a chair, watching the Ocean Mer hold the Reef Mer close while Hongjoong looked like he was seconds from collapsing from exhaustion any second.

San spoke up first, “Do you really think they’ll survive?”

“That Ocean Mer, absolutely. He’s about 24, in good health overall, and his injuries are mainly flesh wounds, aside from the amputated fin. He’ll be fine,” Hongjoong said.

“The Reef Mer…?”

Yunho grimaced, “Please, let’s just take it day by day.”

Hongjoong raised a hand, saying, “It’s not likely, San. The risk of internal bleeding, ruptured organs, hemorrhaging? All too high to not accept the possibility that he won’t make it through the night.”

“Hyung, San clearly doesn’t want to hear that,” Yunho said softly.

“I need to hear it,” San retorted.

Hongjoong glanced between them, “ We’ll just have to wait and see. Now go home.”

Yunho waved a hand dismissively, “I’m going to say hello to Mingi and then I’ll leave.”

It was San’s turn to glance between them, before he finally gave in and turned to leave.

“They’re going to be okay,” Hongjoong said as San neared the exit.

“And if they aren’t?”

The reply was short but soft, “We’ll take care of it.”

Chapter Text

Yunho had met Mingi years ago, when the KQ Marine Centre was freshly established and the public still had a largely demeaning view of Merfolk. When they both still had baby fat in their faces and their eyes were shining but had seen harmful and hurtful things day after day.

Because when he met Mingi, the Mer had been starving and dying in the middle of a tank with overgrown algae, murky water, and barely enough water to cover his gills.

It had been a late fall night, cold biting and strong winds blowing away the warmth in Yunho’s jacket, but he couldn’t worry about that now. They had gotten a call from Animal Control that there was a quote “Mer in bad shape that had been found in the mansion of a criminal millionaire”, and as such the Rescue Team of KQ had been dispatched.

Tonight the Team consisted of Eden, Maddox, Hongjoong, and himself. It was a small group, but they didn’t have anyone else. They were still in the hiring process and any volunteers had been only allowed for providing public outreach in the informational part of the Centre.

Yunho glanced at the room they’d entered, stomach twisting at the carefully designed architecture and expensive looking floors. It was a stark contrast to the tank that formed part of one of the walls, which was only about as tall as Yunho himself and was just barely long enough for the Mer to hover stretched out. The tank was empty of decor, the walls of the tank that weren’t the window were concrete and rough concrete if the scuffs on the Mer’s sides and arms were anything.

The tank was covered in a layer of algae, and given that there wasn’t even a filter in this enclosure, it was likely that this Mer had been surviving in a pool of hose water or tap water without the proper cleaning. It was obvious that no one cared for the cleanliness of the tank even without looking at the lack of filter, as the layer of waste and filth at the bottom of the tank was likely more than an inch thick.

The water in the tank was nearly opaque, and it was shallow, the Mer’s fins sticking out and its head was held diligently up, eyes watching them through the cloud and haze.

The Mer itself was in terrible shape. Both absolutely sick and so thin that they could see the outline and indent of each muscle and tendon. Its scales were peeled almost the entire way down its tail, and its arms had bite marks that ranged from fresh and bleeding to scars.

But its eyes, although dull and pained, were wide and alert, and that’s all they needed.

Eden had, evidently, taken this all in much faster than Yunho and said quickly, “Get the gurney, Hongjoong. Maddox, get the truck ready and grab some sedatives. I don’t think this one will come along easily. Yunho, figure out how to open this tank. I’m going to go call Animal Control and have them explain to me how exactly they forgot to tell us that this Mer didn’t even have enough fucking water to float.”

They were moving in a breath, but Yunho stood and stared. This tank was immensely confusing and it had a frame of gold around it covering any obvious entry points. Three walls were concrete, the floor was concrete, the ceiling of it seemed to be wood, and the window in was sealed.

The only obvious place to get in was the ceiling of the tank, but he couldn’t even find a way to it.

There was a sudden humming noise which jolted him out of his thinking, and with a wild twist and turn, he realized belatedly that the Mer had vocalized at him.

He knelt next to the tank, trying to get on eye level with the injured being, “Hey, bud. You doing okay?”

The Mer blinked sluggishly. Kneeling this close gave him a chance to really study this individual, and by the colour of their hair, he could tell that the sickly pale white pattern wasn’t the true colour of the scales. The environment and stress had essentially bleached them, and the fire-y red and yellow hair was just a reminder of what was.

Another hum and Yunho was looking at their eyes calmly. “Watcha talkin’ about, baby? What’s going on in that head of yours?”

He felt silly, talking to this Mer like he would a cat or dog, but he also didn’t want to stress this individual out with a deep voice and strict tone. The Mer didn’t seem to mind, and it whined heavily, pressing its forehead to the slimy glass.

Yunho gently rested a hand over the glass opposite their head, smiling softly, “Oh, you’re so strong. We’re gonna get you out of here, bud. Don’t worry. I just gotta find a way in.”

The Mer exhaled, gills flaring in the dirty water and its eyes threatening to shut.

Yunho stood, pressing his hands against each wall and the frame of the tank as if something would open like every spy movie seemed to imply that all rich people had in their houses. Nothing worked and he could distantly hear Hongjoongs quick but heavy footsteps as he carried the heavy gurney. He needed to speed up this process or they’d be waiting on him.

Maybe the Mer saw his tension in his body language, or maybe fate was on their side, but  the barely conscious individual glanced at him and then towards a specific point to the side. Yunho followed their gaze, and began pushing and pulling on the wall and frame, when the frame popped off from magnets and revealed a control panel. He glanced back, “You are a genius!”

Pressing the large green button, he jumped back as loud mechanical noises erupted and suddenly the tank was moving out of the wall and stairs were lifting from the floor. Yunho’s jaw dropped. Maybe those spy movies were right. This was fucking crazy.

The Mer let out surprised warbling sounds, meeting Yunho’s gaze with less focus than before, pupils constricted and small as his fins flared and his ears pinned back. Yunho frowned, saying as Hongjoong walked in with Maddox, “We need to get him out soon, hyungs. He isn’t doing great.”

Hongjoong nodded, looking at Maddox, who said with a small huff, “They couldn’t have found a way to make the tank lower into the ground to make this any easier?”

“I’ll go in and get the gurney set up, I don’t think he’ll be hostile,” Yunho suggested.

“You don’t know that. It’s a wild animal, we can’t be sure.”

Yunho narrowed his eyes with a furrow of his brow, “I’ll be fine. He won’t hurt me.”

Hongjoong sighed heavily, “Well, I’m going in there with you. You’ll need to sets of hands to get the gurney ready anyway.”

They both climbed in, the Mer hissing lowly as it stared from where it lay unmoving. The strength in this individual was fading and its unwillingness to put on a real threat display was telling to the group of Rescuers.

They got the sections of gurney underneath the Mer, who watched with great worry and increasing confusion. Eden eventually returned and the four of them hoisted the Mer, who was extremely light for its size, out of the tank and carried it to the truck, where Maddox had got an inflatable pool full of their stored salt water set up.

The Mer groaned heavily as it was set down in the pool, gills twitching and heaving with the quick change from unclean water to clean. Its eyelids drifted, but its panic and uncertainty kept it awake.

“Maddox, you’re with me in the front. Hongjoong, Yunho, I trust you with this Merperson for the drive back,” Eden said, stepping out of the back of the truck.

The two youngest nodded, Maddox closing the door.

Hongjoong silently began monitoring vitals as Yunho kept pouring cup fulls of water over the scales of the Mer so it didn’t dry out. The Mer’s hands twitched, throat bobbing as it vocalized its distress and discomfort. Quietly, Yunho began talking, “You’re doin’ so good, bud. This has been a lot and you’ve been so brave!”

The Mer turned and looked at Yunho, ears twitching as it groaned more pointedly, tail flicking and knocking Hongjoong aside accidentally. When it realized it had pushed the small human, it froze up and began whining louder, ducking its head.

Yunho shushed the Mer, petting the large dorsal fin comfortingly, “You’re okay. You’ll be okay.”

And years later, he was. Mingi, as they’d come to learn was his name, was the longest resident of the Marine Centre and best friend anyone could ask for.

Walking along the pathways around each pool, he could tell his Mer friend was excited, if he understood the muffled chirps accurately.

The Marine Centre had enough space for 10 large pools, one quarantine pool, and one constant supervision pool. The quarantine pool and supervision pool were the closest to the veterinary wing, while the 10 other pools were in two rows. The 12 pools were all generously sized, with decorations, live coral and fish, with sand and heating. The pools all had sea water pumped in, which was easy enough given the Marine Centre sat next to an estuary that opened up to the ocean.

Mingi was in Pool 1, the closest to the breakroom and the most decorated. With years of collecting, the Mer had gathered quite a lot of toys. In one corner of his pool were all his toys. In most cases, they’d keep them outside of the pool so they could be disinfected and cleaned regularly, but Mingi was protective of his collection and as such, only allowed them to be cleaned once a week.

Yunho sat on the edge of the pool, dangling his feet in as the shape of the Mer moved closer and closer.

Mingi was large, larger than any other Reef Mer he’d ever seen, but he was a big softie, and loved to be cuddled. His scales had eventually grown back, and with a proper diet, care, and less stress, his colour had returned. Well, mostly. In some sections, the white scales had never gone away, but everywhere else, he was a stunning yellow to orange to red gradient that resembled fire. He was healthy now, especially in weight, and now was filled out and no longer hungry for his next meal as he had regular feedings on a strict schedule so that the Mer could rely on the routine.

Yunho smiled as the Mer surfaced, saying softly, “Hey, Princess. How have you been?”

Mingi huffed and chirruped, before furrowing his brow thoughtfully and saying, “Mmm… ‘M good!”

“I’m glad. I’m sorry if we woke you up bringing some new friends in.”

Mingi perked up at that, lifting his head and looking towards the veterinary wing and the shape of Hongjoong sitting in his chair. He looked back at Yunho, eyes wide, “Friends!? Friends!?”

Yunho shushed him gently, “Yes, but they are very hurt and very tired. We gotta be hush hush.”

Mingi nodded sagely, warbling much quieter as he swam around his pool a couple times to release some of the energy that had built. When he returned, Yunho was half awake and definitely not fit to drive home. The Mer seemed to sense it too and nudged the human’s hand, “Break.”

Yunho scoffed, shaking his head. “I should go home to sleep, not the breakroom.”

Mingi gave him an incredulous look, repeating with more emphasis, “ Break .”

Yunho sighed, but nodded. He trusted his friend to have his best interest at heart, and who was going to argue with a creature twice their size and claws the length of his hand. “Alright, alright. I’ll see you in a bit. If you need anything, Hongjoong is over by the friends. I’m sure he’d be glad to help you out.”

Mingi stared, translating the sentence in his head, before nodding and warbling his agreement. Without another word, he turned and dove back into the deep recesses of his pool.

Yunho smiled softly, turning and walking to the break room.

He was lucky to have met Mingi and he was grateful everyday that the Mer decided to stay.

Chapter Text

Long years had passed, winter after cold winter; comfortable waters and a full belly had become a memory of his early life that he didn’t get the luxury of living again.

His canyon home had long since gone barren of prey, whatever reason he couldn’t quite understand as his body, both burning hot and freezing cold, refused to work with him.

Seonghwa knew, at one point, he’d have to move, have to go searching for his next meal as his stomach twisted in an attempt to get him going. He knew he’d have to leave.

But the rock he curled up on felt soft, his bones made of heavy reef and his blood that of magma as fire raged through his veins.

Distantly, he knew he was sick.

He heard them long before he saw them, two Mer chirping up a storm in the far reaches of his territory, the water carrying the sound a lot further than they probably thought.

Despite every instinct that told him to rest, despite every cell in his body exhausted, he could not lay here and let intruders into the canyon, no matter how empty it was and how few fish swam around to be grabbed and eaten.

Seonghwa pushed himself up and off the floor of the small cave he called home, muscles aching with lack of use and body stiff as he swam out into the Dark. His eyesight was long since adjusted to the lack of Light, and he could distinctly see two shapes in the shallow end of the underwater canyon. They moved freely, without checking for signs of any pods or predators.

They were clearly inexperienced, and part of him felt bad. They were probably like himself: alone, scared.

Seonghwa twitched at the sudden friendly thoughts.

They were intruders, nothing more.

He moved towards them slowly, keeping quiet as they moved towards the deeper end of the canyon and therefore towards him.

Seonghwa readied himself for the fight that would no doubt happen, breathing deeply and forcing himself to relax even as adrenaline pumped.

They would regret ever coming here.

They were directly above him when he shot upwards, tail pumping himself forward with tired muscles shrieked at the movement. Seonghwa snarled his displeasure to them as they darted away, ears pinned back and their fins flared menacingly. The lone Mer growled, baring his teeth and warbling heavily, “Leave. I lay claim. Leave .”

The larger of the two, an Ocean Mer with a missing fin and half of a fluke and old scars along their sides, spread their claws and put the other Mer behind them, meeting Seonghwa’s challenge, “We are leaving. Light’s Will, let us go.”

The other Mer was a Reef Mer with giant scars and missing entire sections of their dorsal fin. They were also missing a fin, but were clearly caught off guard by Seonghwa’s appearance. The Reef Mer hid behind their partner, whining low in fear.

Good. They should be scared.

Seonghwa’s gills heaved with each breath, vision beginning to blur. He shook his head, and with the way the other two moved away, he could tell they were sensing his weakness. He swiped his claws, fins flaring, “Leave, now .”

The Ocean Mer twitched, their fins beginning to lay back down, “You are unwell—“

“I lay claim. You must leave. Get away!” Seonghwa growled, water vibrating with the power of his vocalisation.

The Ocean Mer shook their head, the Reef Mer beginning to mumble… something, he couldn’t hear it but it was something.

The Ocean Mer crooned suddenly, a kind sound and one Seonghwa hadn’t heard in… Light, how long had it been? How many years?

The sound disarmed him, and suddenly a headache that had apparently been hiding made itself known with a violent rush of white hot pain in his temples. Seonghwa bared his teeth, the voice of the intruder he’d threatened breaking through the pressure behind his eyes, “I am Wooyoung. I can help.”

Seonghwa levelled Wooyoung with a glare and  in a flash, he was latching onto this Ocean Mer’s flank, claws digging into sensitive skin around the their torso gills. Blood clouded the water, and the other Mer lurched forward, crying out, “I lay claim to Wooyoung, you will fight both of us if you don’t stop!”

Seonghwa warbled anger, fed up with these youngsters, “Leave. This is the final warning.”

Wooyoung spun suddenly, tail swinging around and hitting the older Mer across the head roughly. Seonghwa’s head was flung back and his head spines nearly hit his neck spines, nausea building with a fury.

When his grip eased, Wooyoung fled with their partner at their side, yelling obscenities as Seonghwa drifted in the current, mind wildly swimming within his skull.

Everything was blurry and everything was doubled and he felt distinctly unlike himself as his back hit the stone of the canyon floor and the world went black.

Chapter Text

Jongho knew it was going to be a rough day the moment he walked in through the employee entrance.

He had woken up well rested, rare with this job, and had a good breakfast and a shower and had listened to his “Good Vibes” playlist. By all accounts, it should have been a chill day with the way he started it.

The newest patient, a young Ocean Mer who had been beached due to a high fever and was recovering well, didn’t have any emergencies and the residents should have been safe.

Should have.

The moment the door closed behind him, he could hear yelling echoing down the hallway , both humans and mer clearly bothered and angry.

He breathed in slowly through his nose, filling his lungs as the yelling got more tense and nonsensical, before marching down the hall and directly into the pool room.

Inside, Mingi and Yunho were doing a basic checkup, reaffirming basic behaviours that would make Jongho’s job easier. In the opposite pool Wooyoung and Yeosang, the resident troublemakers, were squaring up to Hongjoong and San, who were both visible upset.

“Dangerous, you never said dangerous!” Wooyoung accused, and surprisingly, Jongho could see a small cloud of blood in the water around the Mer’s side.

Hongjoong glared back, arms crossed as he pointed at the two in the pool, “I warned you that you are not the only Mer in the area. That means that there could be other Mer that have territories that are close to the Centre.”

Yeosang grumbled noisily, but didn’t say anything as Wooyoung’s head spines flared forward like a bird fluffing up their head crest, “This territory yours. You should be shame!”

“Ashamed,” San corrected lightly, which only brought the furious gaze of the Mer to him.

“You! You should be shame too.” Wooyoung yelled with a flash of his teeth, gills flaring heavily.

San held his hands up placatingly, “What did I even do?”

Wooyoung’s brow furrowed with thought and he huffed dismissively, “You get yelled at later, this about Hongjoong.”

“How is it about me?! You are the ones that went swimming all willy-nilly through the surrounding coast and didn’t expect to be attacked for it.” Hongjoong retorted sharply.

Jongho glanced at Yunho, who looked up and shrugged, blowing a whistle and tossing a fish into the water as Mingi showed the human his underbelly willingly. Jongho sighed, looking back at the four arguing beings.

Wooyoung was clearly hurt, and his twitching fins and wide eyes conveyed panic and fear, not anger. He was overwhelmed and Hongjoong and San were too invested to recognize the warning signs.

Wooyoung let out a primal growl and lurched forward in the middle of Hongjoong arguing another point, scrambling onto the concrete and swiping his claws near the humans’ legs.

Yunho, Mingi, Jongho, and San all made noises of protest, while Hongjoong leapt out of the way with barely a single inch of room between his soft flesh and the sharp claws of the Mer.

Yeosang was moving quickly, tackling Wooyoung and pulling him away, while San raced to Hongjoong’s side and Jongho finally walked towards the group.

The room had gone quiet, aside from the splashing and whistles from the other pool.

Underneath the water, Yeosang and Wooyoung were tussling, claws not breaking skin but both aggressively challenging each other despite it. Their vocalizations were muffled by the water, but were all throaty and hostile, the argument continuing.

San and Hongjoong were both several more feet away, the older trembling slightly and eyes unfocused as San quietly rubbed his arm.

This was the ugly truth about helping Merfolk.

With both groups being emotionally charged and stressed, with no solid communication between them, and with an added component of being hurt or scared, arguments were easy to have and feelings were hurt often.

Developing strong relationships took time, and yes, the Mer partners had been here for years now, but instincts still took over in moments of desperation and it happened time and time again where Wooyoung would lash out.

The first time they’d had a fight had been traumatising for both sides.

It had started with a checkup a couple weeks into the two injured Mer being at the Centre. A general understanding of neutrality and cooperation had bloomed between the staff and these patients with the help of Mingi being the moderator and translator for both sides.

Wooyoung lay on the memory foam mat, a hose pumping salt water directly into his gills and his body being routinely splashed with water so it wouldn’t dry out, his eyes closed and body relaxed. Hongjoong, San, Yunho, and Jongho had all been there, working to keep him both comfortable and checking the state of his wounds to make sure they were on the right track to recovery.

The atmosphere had been peaceful, calm, with Yeosang watching from their pool protectively. Music had been playing softly, and the entire mood was muted.

And then Hongjoong had moved a bandage away, which had stuck to the healing skin, and pulled. Blood has spurted out, and in barely a second Wooyoung went from resting and limp under their ministrations to twisting and furious, grabbing Hongjoong by the legs and pulling him towards serrated teeth and pained eyes.

San and Yunho had jumped into action, just as Wooyoung sank his teeth into the skin of Hongjoong’s arm, cutting through the wetsuit and drawing panicked screams from the eldest employee. The Mer’s growl shook their chests with the power of it, the sound throwing the humans off. Jongho raced to grab a sedative, filling a syringe with practiced ease as San shouted firmly, “LET GO.”

Hongjoong’s eyes were clouded in fear, body moving on instinct as he tried kicking away from the patient turned predator who fought to subdue the human. Yunho grabbed Hongjoong and held him to his chest as San went to Wooyoung’s jaws and tried to pry them off their friend’s arm. Blood was pouring down Hongjoong’s arm and onto the mat below, those terrified shrieks not stopped.

Jongho raced back over as Wooyoung’s growl reached a lower pitch, threatening and possessive all at the same time.

San finally hooked his fingers into the Mer’s mouth and pinched the sensitive skin there as Jongho administered the sedative, Hongjoong’s voice cracking as his screams turned into sobs. Wooyoung finally let go, growls cutting off as the sedatives worked their magic and his body slumped. Yeosang had watched quietly, ears pinned back while his partner had attacked the human without care.

Yunho pulled Hongjoong away, shushing the man who was trying to escape the hold and flee. All logical thought had been ripped from their fearless leader the moment the adrenaline kicked in and the instinct to survive took over. San raced to grab the first aid while Jongho spoke firmly, “Hongjoong, he’s sedated. You are safe. We are taking care of you.”

Yunho nodded, hugging the smaller man as another burst of energy burned through Hongjoong, tears streaming down his face. “We’ve got you, you’re gonna be okay,” Yunho added.

By the time San had returned, Hongjoong had passed out and emergency services had been called.

That day had cemented in everyone’s head the danger that a stressed, hurting Mer was. Hongjoong had to get stitches, get a small transfusion, but had inevitably returned. Wooyoung had been quiet around the man for weeks, while Yeosang had finally started coming out of his shell.

And today, Jongho could only guess at how much the sudden attack had reminded their leader of that day.

San brought the smaller man into a hug, even if Hongjoong hated them. The bite scars on his arms may have faded but the mental scars would be there for much, much longer.

Jongho went over to pool, splashing the water to get the attention of the arguing Mer. When they surfaced, he simply instructed, “Both of you are coming to the quarantine pool with me.”

They didn’t respond in words, but simply swam to the open gate into the channel between the pools that allowed them access to other pools and the ocean. Jongho walked over to the quarantine pool, waiting quietly as Yeosang and Wooyoung swam in.

Wooyoung pulled himself onto the memory foam mat, jaw clenched, as Jongho pushed the end of the hose into his gills and turned on the flow of water. The man stepped away, putting on the protective vest and arm guards that were required with Wooyoung, and then began to clean and take care of the long, deep cuts in the Mer’s side.

He worked quickly and quietly, Yeosang providing all the chatter in the form of hisses and chirps. Even without understanding all that much, he knew that Wooyoung was getting a verbal beating.

Perhaps one day they’d get over this hostility but today was not that day. Jongho didn’t dwell on it long.

There were more important matters at hand.

Chapter Text

Yeosang watched quietly from the far corner of the quarantine pool, his partner having gone silent after a proper scolding. The challenge he had presented to Hongjoong was without thought or respect to the eldest of this Bachelor Pod.

He didn’t know exactly how or when the Landfolk and other Mer in this reef—er, building, they had said it was a building, whatever that was—became pod to him. The first winter of their stay here had been comfortable and warm, instead of the usual cold and hungry it had been outside in the Light. The Landfolk had kept every Mer well fed, an endless supply of both live prey and pre-killed fish for them to feed on every day. Every. Day. The successful hunts were always a couple days apart in the open waters, but this? Here? Never hungry.

The Landfolk hadn’t proven to be harmful, welcoming them into their territory with grace and mercy, helping the pair to heal in safety.

Yeosang frowned as he watched the youngest of their pod, Jongho, finished the careful ministrations over his partner’s injury. In a moment, Wooyoung was pulling himself back into the water, taking deep breaths as his ears flicked.

“Wooyoung.”

The Ocean Mer looked up as Yeosang approached, angling himself to where his stomach faced the Reef Mer submissively. He didn’t speak words, instead expressing his sorrows and anger with a long and pitiful whine.

He was apologetic and frustrated and Yeosang knew well that he was feeling guilty on top of everything else. The Reef Mer huffed, head spines flaring forward and back in acknowledgment, a careful hand resting over the sensitive skin of Wooyoung’s stomach.

“Hongjoong was not angry,” Yeosang continued, leading the pair out of the quarantine pool and into the main channel. “You Challenged disrespectfully.”

Wooyoung scoffed, but quickly crooned apologetically when Yeosang whipped around with a glare, “He deserved to be Challenged. He was at fault. That outsider could have killed you.”

Yeosang bared his teeth as he directed his partner into their home pool, “I can defend myself well. Don’t turn your insecurity on me. I am your elder.”

Wooyoung twisted, the familiarity of their home pool bolstering his confidence. “You are hurt.”

“I was hurt, but I am healed. You forget your place,” Yeosang retorted, fins flaring and eyes narrowing.

Wooyoung glanced at the Reef Mer, before wisely baring his throat to Yeosang and rumbling another apology.

They stayed like that until Yeosang was satisfied, touching his partner’s throat gently and turning to return to the surface where San was waiting. Wooyoung followed at a distance, wary.

San knelt down at the edge of the pool, shoulders tense and body projecting protection and anger even if his face was soft and open, “Is there anything we should know about the Mer you met?”

Wooyoung stared, brain doing the translation before he replied briefly, “Unwell.”

That sparked something in the Landfolk, whose brow furrowed and jaw clenched, “How unwell?”

The Ocean Mer glared at San, seeing something in the Landfolk that Yeosang missed, baring his teeth, “You don’t bring them. They stay away.”

That was certainly an idea.

A bad and dangerous one, but definitely an idea.

Yeosang frowned.

The Mer had been in bad shape, almost as thin as Mingi had described his past self to be, with dull, glassy eyes and had stunk of sick and feverish. It had put a sour taste in the water and had made the pair to pause. The Landfolk helped Mer like that one in the past, and even the little one in the far pools had been brought in with a similar sick stink.

Wooyoung had expressed his displeasure, but he was not the leader in this reef—building—and he would be foolish to think he had final say.

San was in the middle of arguing with the Ocean Mer when Yeosang huffed, practicing the words quietly before saying in the Landfolk’s language, “Good. Bring.”

Wooyoung turned on the Reef Mer, jaw dropped in surprise and ears pinned back in disbelief, “NO.”

Yeosang twitched, ignoring the outburst and regarding San with a thoughtful look, repeating, “Bring.”

San nodded, “I’ll get the crew together, you will lead the way to the other Mer’s territory, and we will take a dive down to bring them up.”

Wooyoung howled angrily, a guttural thrum building in his chest as he slapped the surface of the water, “NO. NO.”

San gave the distressed Mer a look over, before saying calmly, “This is not your decision to make.”

Wooyoung stared, turned, and disappeared into the channel and out of the building entirely, rage vibrating the water with the fury of his vocalizations.

Yeosang looked at the Landfolk, and shook his head, softly diving into the deeper end of the pool. Wooyoung knew better than to go far, and with Yeosang still in their home pool, he would not stay away for long.

The Reef Mer settled on the sandy floor of the pool and sighed.

He’d wait for Wooyoung here. No use in chasing after an angry Ocean Mer.

When Wooyoung returned, Yeosang simply curled around the Mer and hummed reassurance, hugging him till he heard sleep-evened breaths and the body of the Ocean Mer was limp in his grip. Yeosang fell asleep not long after.

Splashing awoke the pair, ears pinned angrily at their interrupted rest. Moment of grumpiness faded to sudden alertness and Wooyoung was inevitably leading him to the surface. Hongjoong stood further away with Jongho, discussing something in quiet tones, while San greeted the Mer partners, “It’s go time.”

Yeosang gave the younger Mer a look and growled at him, expressing dominance and expectation with a flare of his fins.

Yunho opened the gate to their home pool which had been closed as they slept. This happened every time they slept, and the Landfolk had explained it was to prevent any other Mer from entering and disturbing them. It was a kind gesture, even if slightly restricting. But it was only when they slept.

The Mer partners left, giving Mingi croons of recognition and receiving content warbling in response.

The Landfolk moved quickly, starting what they called a “Boat”, even though it was clearly a Fin Ripper. All Mer knew that. These had claws that would tear you apart, as the partners had experienced so gruesomely all those winters ago.

And then, they were off, leading the Landfolk to the very canyon that they’d just escaped the night before.

Chapter Text

Hongjoong was never really that nervous when diving with the Submersible, but with the shroud of darkness and the discontent rumbling from one of the Mers leading them here; he would confess he was slightly unsettled.

Quietly, he looked at Jongho, who was reviewing the recordings of Mingi’s vocalizations that would be used to lure the sick Mer towards the surface. The young man was confident but silent, peaceful. He didn’t seem bothered at all.

Maybe Hongjoong was just overreacting…

…but there was something off, something weird about going into this unknown Mer’s territory and removing them to rehabilitate them. It felt wrong.

Back in school, when they were going over interspecies communication between Humans and Merfolk, the key to success when interacting with Mer is to keep it on their terms. Consent when working with these creatures was required, knowing that these animals can disembowel a human in under a minute if given the chance.

Doing medical care, feedings, and even play behaviours all required the permission of the individual Mer they were working with, hence all the training and positive reinforcement.

So coming to this Mer’s territory without consent, without agreement, without allowance by this individual, was morally wrong.

But it had to be okay, right? They were taking this Mer to help them, and then they could release them and it would be okay, right?

He frowned, directing the Submersible lower and lower as Jongho began playing the vocalizations through the speaker.

It was quiet, other than the vocalizations, and all they could see was the dashboard before them,  and then darkness through the glass.

It was a distinct feeling of loneliness, being so far beneath the waves in a void where the only thing illuminated was the water directly in front of them.

The Submersible hummed, mechanics purring quietly. The glass was a couple inches thick, but the idea of the water breaking in was always there and the looming threat of death was terrifying.

The vocalizations were low croons, long and almost mournful in nature, interspersed with welcoming clicks and chirps that would drive forward another wave of crooning.

When the recording ended, they waited.

And waited.

And Hongjoong couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the Submersible’s light, but a shape moved in the edge of his vision.

“There,” Hongjoong heard Jongho, turned, and stared into the darkness where there was nothing .

“I can’t see anything,” Hongjoong replied.

Jongho shook his head, “It’s gone. Must’ve been a fish or eel.”

“Probably.”

Jongho played the next vocalization: Mingi’s voice groaned, chuffing sounds echoing through the speakers and another enticing warble bubbling forward.

Mingi’s voice was definitely a unique one, not only because he was a Mer, but because of how gently the tone shifted. Most Mer would jump from sound to sound with jerking vocal clicks. But Mingi? It was smooth. He sounded like whale-song or an opera singer or a rapper with impeccable flow.

Jongho nudged Hongjoong’s shoulder, saying with emphasis, “ There !”

Hongjoong’s head whipped around and— YES! There was a fin, disappearing into the void.

There was a fin… and then the Submersible was being grabbed and wrangled by the large body of a Mer.

This Mer was… well, not very big, about the size of Wooyoung, maybe larger, but the spines on its arms showed age.

The Mer was staring at them through the glass, face void of emotion as wide, bloodshot eyes met their own.

Their skin was sunken, hugging the muscle and bones beneath, tight and worn.

The Mer was a pale red, almost pink, with patterns along their back and bubblegum pink hair flowing around their head. They had large gills, wide and flaring, flesh inside visible as they heaved for breaths.

This Mer hadn’t eaten in quite some time, with how concave their stomach was. Hongjoong thought of Mingi, and shook his head to dispel those memories.

In the moment where he had looked away, there was sudden shifting, throwing Jongho and himself off balance, and when he looked up… there was absolutely nothing in view. The Mer had disappeared without a sound.

The recording had ended, and they were stuck again in that empty void.

Slowly, Hongjoong began moving the Submersible back and up, and within the rings of light, the Mer flicked in and out of sight, following at a distance.

With this larger distance and more illumination, they could see three individual dorsal fins, two sets of hip fins, a small but powerful tail fluke, and long head spines occasionally hidden by the mess of hair.

Hongjoong realized he thought this Mer was beautiful about halfway to the surface, and with that startling idea in his head, he quickly shut down that emotional center of his brain and forced himself to think only logically. If he got too invested, caring for this Mer would be more difficult, and if this individual died, he would be better off distanced.

Jongho said as they continued luring this Mer up, “This won’t be easy, hyung.”

“We’ve seen worse,” Hongjoong said sharply.

Jongho nodded and again, they were quiet, except for the recordings.

They reached the surface and as the Mer realized what had surrounded it instantly twisted and attempted to escape, when Yeosang and Wooyoung grabbed and forced them towards the boat, the Mer’s body language getting more and more desperate the closer and closer they got. Hongjoong docked the Submersible next to the boat as San connected the pulley that would pull them up to the deck.

The Mer was growling and screaming, crying out in a panicked tone that almost shook the boat with its intensity. Wooyoung and Yeosang were vocalizing back. It was all too intense. It was wild and there was no direction.

The moment that Hongjoong was out, he yelled to Jongho, “Get the tranq darts, it’s going to kill itself at this rate!”

The younger man nodded and rushed as San joined Hongjoong next to the platform that their two Mer were dragging this stranger towards. San glanced at Hongjoong, saying loudly so he could be heard over the ruckus, “This is going worse than we anticipated!”

Hongjoong looked at the taller man incredulously, “You thought I thought this was going to be easy?!”

San paused, mouth open and ready to respond when Jongho raced forward with the prepared tranquilizer gun and shouted, “Give me an open, boys!”

Yeosang and Wooyoung glanced back, grabbed the Mer’s arms and tail, and brought it forward with one final flick of their tails, baring the Mer’s shoulder.

Jongho aimed, exhaled, and pressed down on the trigger.

The Mer flinched violently, letting out a pulsing distress call after the dart with a red feathery end buried itself into the Mer’s side.

Jongho gestured to their residents and pointed at the platform, both of them hauling the almost unconscious Mer onto it roughly. San and Hongjoong leapt into action, grabbing writhing tail and uncoordinated limbs and holding them down as Jongho removed the dart and softly rubbed the entry point.

The Mer cried, a broken whine ripping through their throat as their head lulled.

Hongjoong met their eyes, reaching out and softly petting their face, “Easy there, easy. You’re okay. We’ve got you—“ the Mer whined more heavily and instantly the small human was shushing them, “Shhh, shhhh, shhhh… it’s okay. It’s okay. Just go to sleep. We’re going to take care of you.”

The Mer’s eyes moved wildly in their sockets, eventually landing on Hongjoong, who smiled empathetically and softly rubbed their forehead. “That’s it, that’s it…”

The Mer went limp, eyes beginning to flutter closed as a quiet croon leaving them.

Hongjoong nodded, cupping their face with one hand, “That’s it…”

When the Mer finally fell unconscious, Hongjoong was thankful.

This Mer needed their help, and this would be better for them.

This would be better.

Hongjoong furrowed his brow, before whispering, “I promise to take care of you. Promise.”

Chapter Text

Yunho truly hadn’t meant to fall asleep.

The thought drew him further from the inky tentacles of unconsciousness, his body waking slowly.

The soft and warm body pressed against his wetsuit, the soft swish of fins in water sending tiny, lapping waves against the edge of the pool.

Mingi had demanded cuddles, and since Yunho could never deny this Mer of his hugs, he’d brought a yoga mat to sit on next to the pool. He’d held Mingi and then… he probably passed the fuck out.

This was only a problem because when he heard the telltale signs of the crew returning, he had the weight of a sleeping Merperson on him, pinning him to the yoga mat with all his unconscious glory.

Yunho listened to the boat’s engine quiet and the pattering of feet on wood and then concrete. He—gently—shoved Mingi off of himself and leapt up, saying, “I’m sorry!”

The Mer made a noise similar to when a cat is woken up, before landing in the pool with a squeak. Wooyoung and Yeosang rumbled from the channel in response and soon Mingi was excitedly peeking over the edge of the pool with wide eyes.

The general mood was upbeat until the 3 other humans walked in carrying the sides of the gurney with a pink Mer lying quietly and limply inside. Hongjoong looked up, met Yunho’s gaze and said, “It isn’t good.”

The tall man ran over, grabbing the side that San was supporting by himself, taking some of the weight and helping them move the Mer to the quarantine pool and the neighbouring veterinary wing, staring down at the new patient now that he was closer.

“Breathing was quick on the boat, even after we tranq-ed them. I’ve drawn blood so we need to send that out for testing; this individual also needs a nutrients and a diet plan written up.” Jongho spoke like someone twice his age, and thrice his experience, but everyone knew to listen to him. He was educated and a genius in the field of Merbiology.

They had made it nearly to the padded spot to lay the Mer down when its tail made a sudden and small twitch. Yunho was about to speak when in a rush of energy, the Mer suddenly writhed and shook, swinging its weight as Jongho and Hongjoong stumbled. Yunho and San tried to compensate, moving along stiffly in an attempt to stabilise the other half of the team.

It was working, up until San tripped over his own foot and fell to one knee harshly, the sound of bone creaking and threatening to break accompanied by the sound of the man’s cry of agony.

“Grab the sedatives!” Jongho shouted.

This riled up the disoriented, waking Mer further and in a fit of fear, the Mer swung its weight towards Jongho and Hongjoong’s side, forcing them to lose their grip. They dropped their side and the Mer landed on the concrete with a loud thud.

All was quiet, and then all hell broke loose as Jongho and Hongjoong scrambled to prevent the Mer from diving into the quarantine pool. Yunho helped San up, wincing at the image in his mind of the bruising that bloomed on the man’s knee.

San waved him off and limped to help the two shorter men.

Jongho looked up at Yunho with panicked eyes, “Grab the damn sedatives!”

Yunho made one step, when one of their residents began crooning gently. Everyone froze, including the new Mer, who was—

Yunho turned back, “It woke up before we could hook it up to water. It thinks it’s suffocating!”

“Yes, that is why I need the damn sedative so we can move them to the fucking station and get them hooked up, now MOVE hyung.” Jongho shouted, the crooning sound getting louder as whoever it was approached the pool.

Yunho retrieved the sedative as asked and gave it to Jongho, who was pinning the Mer down with Hongjoong and San’s help. The resident’s voice had calmed their new Mer and getting them back to sleep was easy.

They finally moved the Mer to the pad, put the hose of sea water into their torso gills, and Yunho pointedly avoided Jongho. The young man was hurriedly gathering vitals as Hongjoong helped San to a random folding chair nearby. Without a doubt, Mingi had been the one calming the Mer and, goodness, he was more glad that Mingi had stayed. The entire situation could have been worse.

Thankfully the only casualty was San’s knee and every human in this rooms’ confidence.

Yunho brought the empty gurney back to the boat, and returned to see Hongjoong giving an ice pack to San and Jongho leaning back with a heavy sigh.

“What’s the verdict, doc?” San asked, slapping Hongjoong’s hand away when he lingered too long.

“The verdict is: we need to send in the blood sample for testing, we need to get this Mer fed, and we need to start a general antibiotic and antibacterial. And Mingi needs to get their name.”

A shrill questioning hum echoed through the large room, Mingi’s signature trill burbling forward.

Yunho smiled softly, shouting back, “Yes, we mentioned you, Princess!”

“Wow, Princess? He’s Princess now?”

“Shut up, Hongjoong, you’re just jealous he likes me.” Yunho sent a bright grin in the tiny leader’s direction.

Hongjoong reached for the ice still on San’s knee and was grabbed roughly, pulled into a hug that pinned his arms to his sides. A standard hold for a Mer but right now, it was being used to contain a much more terrifying beast: a small man with blue hair.

Jongho cleared his throat, “If you are ready to be serious?”

The three older men apologized quietly, before turning their full attention to their fed up coworker. The youngest smiled briefly, “Good. We should wake them up and get them accustomed to the quarantine pool. Introduce them to Mingi. I’m gonna put in a reversal and they are gonna be up quickly. We need to push them into the water when they are still mostly out of it. Standard procedure. Understand, hyungs?”

Yunho saluted, “Aye-aye, baby captain.”

A scoff from Hongjoong was ignored as he and Yunho went kneel at the side of the Mer.

Jongho injected the reversal, which pulled the patient from unconsciousness and allowed them to regain awareness.

The moment their gills flared, the three humans shoved them from the padded floor into the water gently and then all three scrambled away.

Waves slammed against the edge of the pool as a large pink tail flicked powerfully, disoriented limbs grabbing for purchase in the water as their senses came back to them.

Yunho could relate with the waking up feeling, but also knew that the experience of a Mer was indescribable and impossible to understand fully.

By the time the water stilled, the Mer had stopped moving and, for a moment, it was eerily silent.

Then the Mer turned around, spotted the humans and started growling with a rage they hadn’t even heard from Wooyoung. The walls shook, dust falling from the support beams in the ceiling.

Whatever, whoever, this Mer was, they were unlike any that they had brought in before. There was something in those eyes, in the posturing and in the sound of their voice that made all the hairs on his arms stand up and his stomach twist in a fear he’d never experienced before.

This was a predator. First and foremost.

And they had just brought it into their Marine Centre.

Chapter Text

Mingi was content to stay safe in his pool until all the problems were swept away in the undertow. He was more than happy to play to get treats and ecstatic when he got cuddles and a bit of sunshine when the sunroof was open. He was a simple Mer and he had learned to appreciate the slow tide of life. Those who fought the currents would struggle to find balance, and those who embraced the rushing waters would be moved along with ease and without harm.

He had learned to appreciate the little things too. Instead of having to worry about the next time food was dropped in, he knew that everyday Yunho would walk in with a so-called ‘bucket’ full of fish for him. He was convinced that this ‘bucket’ was just a big shell or rock they’d carved out, but the Landfolk were adamant that no, it was in fact a bucket. He agreed to disagree with their judgement but respected their opinion as any good pod member would.

He loved life in this pool. Even when they opened the gate and allowed for outside time, he always stayed in.

Nothing ever goes wrong inside this pool and nothing would ever go wrong in this pool. He had his pod to thank for that.

When he’d first been brought in, he’d been so tired and hungry. He couldn’t even eat he was so weak and so every day, Yunho would get in a wetsuit, and at the time would he’d been in the shallow pool, and the Landfolk would support Mingi and hold him close as the Tube was shoved down Mingi’s throat and into his stomach.

The Tube was annoying and scary, but he couldn’t breathe through his gills and would always be given a moment to think if it became too uncomfortable. The Tube was necessary though, because without it, he felt pained and starving, but when they’d put the Tube in and inject whatever it was into the Tube, he’d feel a pleasant sensation of relief in his stomach as the hunger pangs subsided.

He eventually liked this time, because that meant his tiredness and his aching would go away for a while AND he’d get to rest in the arms of this nice Landfolk.

When he got strong, they started introducing small fish which were extremely easy to catch. They never even moved and Mingi got a sense that maybe they were already dead but he didn’t much care given they were so incredibly tasty and made him feel satisfied and happy.

Mingi had gotten much better and started playing for the treats and eventually he could no longer see his individual ribs and he never felt the need to grab at the scales on his tail or bite his arms again.

This building, as he and the Landfolk kept reminding Wooyoung it was called, was safe and warm and home and he loved it.

That’s why when he felt his stomach twist in unfamiliar fear, he was caught off guard.

The last time he had felt this Wrong was when that evil Landfolk had grabbed at him and poked into his gills or leave and not return until Mingi was almost dead from starvation.

This feeling of Wrong was not allowed in this building. Was not allowed near his pod.

But this feeling of Wrong carried a thrum of power and authority in it and he couldn’t help but lay his fins flat and corner himself.

There was nothing in his pool except him and his toys and his rock and the sand and the tiny fish friends, but the power of the growl that echoed all around him made him feel defenceless and  vulnerable and, Light, he just wanted to hide.

The new friend, the Mer, they had brought in was the one Wooyoung and Yeosang had encountered and from what those two had said, the new Mer couldn’t possibly be the one making all this noise.

They described the other Mer as sickly and weak and an easy target and even easier to bully into leaving their territory, but the sound they were making suggested experience and also unbelievable amounts of burning, seething rage.

Mingi had never felt that much anger and had certainly never met anyone as angry as this Mer and while Wooyoung was strong-willed and prideful, he wasn’t only ever mad. He was always some mix of regretful and sad and mournful, along with the big mad emotions he felt.

This Mer? This growl was only rage. Pure and cold and demanding and terrifyingly loud.

Mingi had worked with distressed Mer to help them understand that the Landfolk just wanted to help. It was one of his favourite parts of living in this building. He got to meet all sorts of Mer, from young to old and feminine to masculine and everything in between. He had appreciated each individual and had tried to take their distressed memories into account when translating to the Landfolk. Not everything was easy to understand in the Landfolk’s language, and some things were simply unable to cross that barrier, but it would always work out.

This growl was from a Mer who hadn’t known peace in years. This was a guttural, thunderous rumble that made the water slosh against the walls of the pool and the towels fall off the weird rocks that were absolutely rocks and not whatever a ‘shelf’ was.

Quietly, he hoped that maybe he wouldn’t have to interact with this Mer.

The growling eased to a low rumble and finally Mingi could breathe without fear that just a slight movement of water would agitate the Mer. He couldn’t see them but they were close and that was enough.

He swam to the closed gate, the sheet of rock blocking him from seeing out into the channel. Wooyoung and Yeosang were quiet, but still present. Their almost inaudible trills and clicks were a reminder that he wasn’t alone. They were a pod and this intruder— no, this new friend— was not going to break the bonds they had formed over the years.

The quiet footsteps of a Landfolk approached his home pool and he glanced up to see Yunho. His Landfolk knelt and splashed the water, saying gently, “It’s show time, bud. Time to translate.”

Mingi sighed heavily. He knew his job was to communicate… but this Mer was so mad that maybe even Mingi’s presence would set them off.

Yunho pushed the gate, sliding the rock out of the way, allowing access to the channel and therefore the way to the quarantine pool.

Mingi flicked his tail, fins forcibly relaxed as he swam left through the water. The channel was illuminated with some sort of glowy thing. The Landfolk called them “lights”, which seemed insulting to the Light to name something as simple as these after it, but Mingi wasn’t one for discussions of the subject and left it as it. Above the channel was thin section of clear rock—glass, he reminded himself— so any Landfolk could lead the way for a Mer without having to give directions.

He hooked a right and swam down this section of the channel which had more lights. This way went only to the quarantine pool and the other medical pool, which made it good for keeping injured Mer contained away from the others.

As he took a final right turn, the quarantine pool came into view. The gate for this pool was a thick mesh like material with the strength of rock but allowing for Mer to look in and out of the pool.

That’s when the intru—new friend came into view.

Mingi froze, hoping they hadn’t noticed him.

It was like looking in a mirror from the past, in terms of the condition of their body. They were visibly dying of starvation, but the way they held their body was coiled and tense like an eel about to strike.

They weren’t large like their voice suggested, but they were fully grown and clearly older than Mingi.

Being so close to the rumbling anger was disorienting, and all the instincts he had grown to trust were telling him to Swim Away.

He took tiny breaths, gills barely moving as he tried to make himself as undetectable as possible.

They would surely kill every Mer and Landfolk here. They had a tsunami inside of them and they were now contained within the walls of the Centre.

Mingi closed his eyes, claws twitching with the effort to stay instead of flee. He had to do this.

They were hurt. They were hungry. He had to do this.

How else would be prove himself to his podmates? They can grown to depend on him for this part.

He had to.

When he opened his eyes, it was to the sight of two burning embers in the skull of the new Mer, glaring at Mingi with so much pain in their eyes that part of him that was desperate to help.

The other?

The other part of him took over in an instant and with a violent swish of his tail he was barreling through the channel back towards his home pool.

That Mer would kill them all.

And he was not willing to reason with a monster.

Chapter Text

Stupid. He was stupid. Light, he was going to die just like his family had. The Landfolk had him in their clutches, he was feeling worse than before, and now he was alone.

Staring after the fleeing form of the Reef Mer that had ventured too close, he belatedly realized that the individual that was swimming away was probably his only chance at escape.

Seonghwa gills flared heavily with the strain it took to get a deeper breath. He felt like no matter how much water was filtered, he couldn’t seem to fill his lungs with air. His body was quietly protesting every movement, sending shockwaves of pain along up his spine which only agitated the building headache and lightheadedness. He pressed his forehead against the rocks that blocked his escape, the cold against his skin sending a shiver along his body.

He was locked in a body that was unfit, unwell, and unwilling to cooperate as he needed. Every moment was prolonged agony, and he just wished he was back home.

Home was Dark, cold and never changing. He lived in a constant state of isolation and calm in the depths of the canyon. Home was safe.

Here, the rocks were pale and the water was shallow. Here, the Light was bright and threatened to flood his brain. Here, he was at the mercy of the very creatures that ripped his pod away from him with a cruel swiftness he’d never forget.

He could still taste the blood in the water, if he focused hard enough.

Movement at the surface like the sound of prey struggling instantly caught his attention and in a moment of feverish desperation he launched at where the sensation originated from.

He slammed into the rock of the other side of this weird cove, letting out a long keening cry. He missed it, he missed it. He missed it and he kept missing every time he had tried and now he was captured and… he was captured and he was tired.

He was so tired .

He looked up and met the eyes of the blue-haired Landfolk, who knelt close with dark eyes lowered respectfully.

Seonghwa was taken aback, mind in a fog as he tried to focus on the individual in front of him, who regarded him with well manners he’d thought impossible of these barbarians. The more he stared, the more the individual started to double and triple in his vision.

They began humming to him, too high-pitched to be anything truly Mer. The sound was not comforting in the way a predator luring its prey with mimicry was comforting.

He felt caught between emotions, stuck in No Man’s Land.

Seonghwa distantly felt his eyelids flutter, ignoring the loss of sight as he rested his head forward, the rock not rough but smooth.

The Landfolk kept vocalizing, the other Landfolk replying in kind.

The Mer’s body was heavy and cold, but he was burning inside and felt like his skull might lift off his shoulders and float away. The duality was ruining his sense of balance.

Something touched his hair and head spines and he was moving away with a whimper before any conscious thought broke in. The Landfolk’s hand was outstretched, he realized when his eyes finally opened again; the blurriness sending his brain into a spin of vertigo.  They looked at him with… some sort of emotion.

Seonghwa glanced at the others. There were three others in this tiny pod. The largest, with a halo of blond around their brown hair, stood next to the only other standing individual. That one had dark hair and was staring back with unblinking eyes. The third had dark hair but was leaning back against a weirdly thin rock that looked more like it was made of seaweed or kelp. They looked tired, and something sat midway up on their weird flippers that looked like tiny icebergs. Ice. Ice was cold.

Seonghwa was cold.

He lowered his head again, eyes scrunching against the light.

He wasn’t this bad back home, why was he so sick now?

There was more splashing from where he’d just fled from and that same instinctual energy overtook him as he burst forward with a speed his body couldn’t really handle in his current state.

This time when he slammed into the rock, his arm got trapped between his body and the wall and he heard a soft crunch.

Seonghwa glanced at the blue haired Landfolk with wide eyes when the wave of pain from his now fractured arm rolled up into his spine and into his brain.

The world melted away as his body went ridged, gills working even harder as his breaths came short and quick.

He heard the loud screeching before the burn of his lungs made him realize it was him. He didn’t stop the cry of pain, curling forward and holding his arm to his chest as the sound became an agitated rumble that pitched high with his panic.

Seonghwa felt the sobs rip through his chest as the fog in his head pushed to the forefront and finally the darkness he’d been seeking wrapped around him, the world falling like sand through his fingers.

Hopefully when he woke up, this all will have been a nightmare.

Chapter Text

When Mingi had turned tail and swam away was when they could tell there was something wrong with this Mer other than physically. San watched Yunho’s face fell, his hands clenching at his sides as eyes tearing up ever so slightly. Mingi was their first line of communication and with his abandoning this patient, they were now left with either Wooyoung or Yeosang, and if neither of them wanted to, they would have to work with the Mer like they’d work with a deaf Merperson.

San frowned and sighed, saying to the taller man gently, “Hey, he’ll be okay.”

Yunho turned, rubbing his eyes, “He hasn’t done this in years.”

“Mingi’s probably just having a moment. Let’s just give him time. I’m sure Yeosang would talk  to this new Mer.”

Yunho nodded, “That could work, I—“

“Hyung, that’s the worst idea you’ve had today.”

San felt his back straighten and eyes narrow before he realized Jongho was talking to Hongjoong, not him.

And Jongho was right. Hongjoong was naively kneeling at the edge of the pool, softly splashing the water. The Mer was on the opposite side of this smaller pool, leaning against the gate limply. Their body was tense and their arms shook slightly.

They were getting worse.

Hongjoong shushed them, watching the Mer as he kept splashing the water.

They collectively gasped when the Mer, who’d been still and unmoving, appeared before Hongjoong with so much energy that the water in the pool splashed up and out, covering Hongjoong, Jongho, and Yunho in the spray. San was thankful for being spared, but when the Mer lifted their head out of the water, he wished he could’ve been right there next to their leader.

The Mer was breathing heavily, throat gills opening so wide that the flesh inside was visible from where he sat. They closed rapidly, and then were flaring open again. Their eyes were wide but distant as their loud rumbles started up again, but this time uncertain and fearful.

Hongjoong shushed the Mer this time, saying in the same tone that he had when trying to mimic Mingi’s calls, and with his head bowed respectfully, “This place is scary, huh? So many new things and new sights and smells. This is all a lot, huh?”

The Mer stared at Hongjoong with a surprised expression, eyes focusing for a moment on the man, when those same eyes that had just gave them hope fluttered closed and their head fell forward. They had submerged their throat gills and face but most of their head and head spines stayed above the water.

Hongjoong bit his lip, before looking at Jongho and asking, “Can you get the smallest fish we have stored? Small fish shouldn’t bother them too much, right?”

“They haven’t eaten in a while, and while I want to start with fluids, I don’t think they’ll let us tube-feed like y’all got Mingi to. Yeah, I’ll grab the smallest fish.” The youngest of them walked to the refrigerator in the corner of the veterinary room, opening it and opening the lowest shelf.

Hongjoong reached out and tried to pet the head spines down; intending on giving comfort. The moment he nudged the Mer’s head, they were moving away, vocalizing distress loudly and with wild eyes unable to find one spot of focus on. “Easy, there. Easy. I said we were gonna help you. I won’t break my promise.”

Jongho came back with a handful of the smallest feeder fish they had, handing the fish to Hongjoong, who took one and splashed the water again.

The Mer’s eyes glazed over and their mouth opened to bare sharp teeth and they barrelled forward.

They didn’t stop.

The Mer slammed into the wall of the pool,  the snap of a bone ringing out as Yunho and San both raced forward. Well, one of them raced over, the other limped carefully to the pool.

Hongjoong watched as the Mer raised its head, struck in a moment of brief painless surprise.

Their eyes met and for breath, both of them were not a human and a mer, they were just two individuals who empathised in the sudden surprise.

And then the Mer was writhing violently, arm pressed against their chest and agonized call screaming through their throat. Their eyes were wide but their pupils were miniscule and their fins were flared and gills opening and closing without actually taking in enough water to filter to get enough air.

Hongjoong tried to get their attention, saying to Jongho as he took a step into the pool, “Painkillers. Painkillers NOW.”

The Mer was crying now, a heartbreakingly human sound as the tears raced down their face. The water was shallow enough on this end for Hongjoong to stand with his shoulders and head out of the water. He approached the Mer slowly, but when he got close enough their eyes rolled back into their head and their body was limp, screeching cries bubbling away into silence.

Hongjoong grabbed the Mer, pulling them towards the padded floor and saying softly even if he knew they couldn’t hear or understand him, “Oh, I know. I know. It hurts. I’m sorry. We were just trying to help you. You’re gonna be okay.”

Yunho and San grabbed at fins and tail to help get the Mer back onto the padded floor, Jongho stepping forward with a syringe in hand and critical eyes trying to assess their arm.

Hongjoong softly set their head down, petting the hair that had been out of reach before. Yunho put the hose into one of the torso gills as Jongho grabbed the Mer’s arm and slid the syringe into the meat of their shoulder, before pulling it away and rubbing that spot to try to mitigate the pain later. Then, when he was sure the painkillers were starting to work, he finally inspected the arm.

Just by feeling, he knew it hadn’t split in half or splintered dangerously. It had simply broken partially. They’d need to X-Ray to be sure, but a splint would be good enough for this individual. Splint and painkillers.

Hongjoong sat by the Mer’s head, talking and talking and talking.

Eventually, the Mer’s eyes opened, their gaze unfocused.

“You’re going to be okay. Eyes on me, bud. Eyes on me. They are just making sure your arm doesn’t get worse.” Hongjoong said, rubbing their forehead softly.

The Mer’s face was blank, and so Hongjoong asked again, “This is weird, huh? Can’t feel your arm?”

No response.

When Hongjoong looked up, there was a splint tightly and well-wrapped.

They softly pushed the Mer back into the water, Hongjoong stepping into the pool and holding the Mer gently as they stared into the distance. “Can you pass me the fish from before?”

Yunho nodded, grabbing the fish and handing the handful to Hongjoong.

Hongjoong held them close to the Mer’s face, hoping it would wake them from their comatose state. They didn’t react.

Hongjoong looked back at the group, before saying, “I don’t know if they are gonna be working with us.”

San rubbed his face, “Let’s let them be for the night. We can’t do anything more for them tonight.”

Hongjoong stepped away, dropping the fish into the pool and climbing out, bowing his head.

Jongho sighed, “So, revisit in the morning?”

Yunho frowned, “Are you sure? Leaving them alone?”

San shook his head, “They won’t do anything in this state.”

Hongjoong stepped away, “I’m going to go get changed and head home then. I’m sorry this hasn’t gone well.”

“It’s not your fault. We didn’t know what exactly to expect.” Jongho replied.

San gestured to Yunho, “Can you help me? To my car?”

“Yea. I’m gonna check up on Mingi after, though.”

“Makes sense,” San agreed.

Hongjoong glanced towards Yeosang and Wooyoung’s pool, “I’m going to check in on those two.”

San glanced back at the Mer, who had made their way to deepest corner. They were quiet and still. The angry beast had been replaced by this shell of a being.

This… this was going to be a lot of work.

Chapter Text

Wooyoung lay in the sand of his home pool, Yeosang sleeping in the small coral outcropping, as he glared at the closed and locked gate preventing his escape. His eyelids tried to close but every time they reached halfway his rage would awaken anew and he’d be refocusing his gaze on a new part of the gate. It was solid, with a small section of glass so they could look out into the channel, which initially had been reassuring when they’d first claimed this pool, but now just a reminder that he couldn’t leave this Light-cursed building.

They had brought that aggressive Mer back, which had led to San hurting his leg, Mingi fleeing from his job as translator, and Hongjoong leaving the building in a daze. They had brought that intruder into their territory, welcomed them even, and now they were hurting the pod.

Wooyoung lifted his head from where it had drifted onto his arms, staring at the gate as if intimidating it with his eyes would make it open.

He wanted to remove the intruder from their territory, engage in a new Challenge and prove his worth to the pod. He wanted to make their home safe again but he couldn’t because the very thing causing all this pain was sleeping in a pool only a few tail flicks away.

Wooyoung rumbled threats, expressing all the twisted and sharp urchins that were his anger and making it clear: any wrong move and he’d filet the intruder like he would any other piece of pesky prey.

The intruder didn’t respond.

They had screamed pain and agony hours ago, and had gone silent since then. It was eerie and strange and it set off all the alarms in his instincts. Being loud was annoying but reassuring by keeping the position of the intruder known at all times. But quiet? Quiet meant hidden and lying in wait.

While he wanted a fair fight, the intruder had made the mistake of going after his pod and now there was no room for mercy.

“Sleep, or I will make you,” Yeosang’s voice cut into his growling, silencing him. “You will not fight. You will not hurt. You will sleep .”

Wooyoung turned, looking at the Reef Mer with a huff, “They are dangerous. They hurt San and scared Mingi.”

The Reef Mer pulled himself out of the coral reef, positioning himself higher in the water and looking down at Wooyoung, “They are hurt themself. They require patience. Your concern is acknowledged and subsequently ignored.”

“You are ignoring blatant threats,” the Ocean Mer countered, fins flaring.

Yeosang hissed, “I am seeing the truth.”

“Your relaxed instincts blind you.” Wooyoung snarled, lunging forward and pushing Yeosang  lower than himself.

Yeosang stared, before whispering coldly, “And your instincts rule you.”

Wooyoung bared his teeth, turning and partially burying himself in the sand, grumbling as he did. The Reef Mer watched, disgruntled but not willing to go any further with Wooyoung acting as he was. The Ocean Mer rested his head on his forearms glancing up at Yeosang, who simply flared his head spines in response and went back to his coral hide.

Morning came fitfully and without much rest, the Light filtering in through the open skylights above the pools. Every pool had a skylight except for the quarantine pool, which gave Wooyoung a twist of satisfaction knowing that the intruder wasn’t given equal Light as everyone else.

His head spun when he realized he was revelling in the other Mer’s discomfort, body recoiling at the thought that he was feeling the way he was. Wooyoung frowned, suddenly baring his teeth as his head snapped upwards to meet eye contact with one of the Landfolk as they looked back in.

The Landfolk splashed the water and soon enough the partners were surfacing. Yeosang regarded the Landfolk, Yunho, with kind eyes and a calm demeanour, saying in his limited knowledge of Landfolk Language, “Morning.”

“Good morning to you too, Sangie.” Yunho replied, pulling a bucket of fish he’d been hiding into view, “We have a special mission for you two today.”

Wooyoung crooned interest, ears perking up and fins flaring, “Treats?”

The Landfolk nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, you will be getting treats.”

Yeosang glanced at the bucket and then back to Yunho, “What doing?”

“We need you two to tell our new friend that we would like to help them. Do you think you could do that for us?”

Wooyoung reeled back at the inquiry, ears pinning back, “They will hurt you. No.”

Yunho looked at Yeosang, “Can you help with this special mission today?”

Yeosang nodded, rumbling willingness and excitement. How the Reef Mer could be excited about this, he did not know. Wooyoung grabbed Yeosang’s arm tightly, baring his teeth and snarling in their language, “I refuse. This is dangerous. You will get hurt.”

Yeosang pulled his arm away, “No. I won’t. If you want to join me, I will allow it. If you agitate them I will personally Challenge you.”

Wooyoung glared back and swam away, saying to Yunho shortly, “You will not have good translation from him. You know this?”

Yunho smiled, “As long as the point gets across that we don’t want to hurt our new friend, I don’t much care what we are told back. We just want to help.”

“Y’all talking about helping someone? How about help bringing in the groceries.” Jongho’s voice piped up, Wooyoung looking towards the Landfolk’s secondary entrance where they often brought in new Mer, seeing the side door open with Jongho carrying several plastic bags of Landfolk food.

Yunho raced over to their youngest pod member, grabbing some of the bags and saying with pride, “These are heavy, have you been working out?”

“Yes, hyung. I have. I move Merfolk almost every day and have to carry this team.” Jongho sweetly replied.

“Spicy! Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

The shorter Landfolk glared and just continued towards the breakroom.

Wooyoung twitched, ears pinning again. The relationship of these Landfolk were good. They were true Pod. Every time he spoke to Yeosang felt like a confrontation but every time he spoke to Mingi it was like he was talking to a stranger. The familiarity he had established with his Pod was different now and he couldn’t understand why.

He was thrown off, by getting hurt or by the mere presence of the new Mer, and it was bothering his relationships.

He felt useless and when he’d hurt that Mer in their first confrontation that was just barely a Challenge he must’ve proven to Yeosang that he was weak.

Wooyoung ignored the whine in his throat that threatened to escape. He needed to get it together. He had to show them that he was worth it.

If he wasn’t useful to the pod, was he really useful at all?

He watched as Yunho and Jongho made a few trips outside and to the breakroom, bringing food into the building with every round.

Hongjoong and San walked in after the grocery trips were done, the blue haired human quiet and pensive. San was loud though, instantly calling out, “Good morning, KQ Centre! How we feelin’?”

Mingi was replying louder, trilling happily. Yeosang obliged with a low croon. Wooyoung stared at the Landfolk with a frown, huffing.

The intruder was still quiet and he couldn’t stop the aggravated snarl that ripped through his throat and shook the waters around him. San looked over, “Need a snack, Wooyoungie?”

Yunho let out a yelp, “I totally brought them breakfast but got distracted with the bringing in groceries place.”

San slapped Yunho’s arm gently, “How dare you!”

The taller man made an expressive shrug before walking back over and guiding the two Mer to the small platform where the Landfolk knelt to reinforce behaviours.

The quick session got their stomachs full and then the gate was being opened and Yeosang was being led to the quarantine pool. Wooyoung stared at San, who had stayed near the partners’ pool. The Landfolk sat at the edge of the pool and kicked his feet in the water.

Wooyoung pointedly ignored the sounds of Hongjoong, Jongho and Yunho discussing the new Mer.

He huffed, staring at the Landfolk’s legs.

Wooyoung had to admit, legs were a work of genius. A stupid work of genius, given that they were practically useless in water but somehow the Light had blessed Landfolk with the ability to stand on land without gills or a tail. The inside workings would remain a mystery but he could see some muscles moving inside the legs. He was honestly fascinated.

Landfolk were so different but also so similar. They had hair and they had attitudes just like Merfolk.

San watched Wooyoung back, but with a much less analytical eye and instead with a warm and affectionate look.

The Ocean Mer huffed, bringing up a claw and poking the second skin covering San’s legs. It was rubbery and cold. Wooyoung blinked before softly biting the Landfolk’s leg, not putting enough pressure to hurt.

This was a daily occurrence with him and San.

Instinct said bite, he bit. He never hurt his pod member, knowing how fragile Landfolk were.

Then Yeosang made a surprised call and Wooyoung was reeling backwards with wide eyes. San stood, saying firmly, “Easy, Wooyoung. Easy.”

The other Landfolk were beginning to get louder, which only set Wooyoung further on edge. Something was wrong and he wasn’t over there. He wasn’t with his partner—

He wasn’t with his partner and there was something wrong and the intruder was there and—

Wooyoung was racing down the channel before his brain had caught up with the panic, tail flicking heavily as he turned a corner and growled.

He didn’t expect to see the intruder reaching through the gate towards Yeosang with wide eyes and a cry building in their throat.

Chapter Text

A flash of claws swept towards him, long and sharp like eagle talons and with the deadly accuracy of a primal predator. They were darkened, years and years of dirt and blood and wear and tear evident. The hands they were connected to were skeletal in nature, skin sunken against the tendons and muscles beneath.

Their body was angular and their pattern significantly stress bleached.

They were a morbidly beautiful image of suffering.

And they were reaching for him as if he were the Light coming to collect them and return them to the sand.

Distantly, he realized Wooyoung had rushed to him at his uncertain call, and distantly he knew that the Landfolk were gathering at the pool’s edge above them with nervous words and shouted instructions.

He knew he should listen.

But this Mer was looking at him like he held all the answers and he couldn’t bring himself to look away.

He had approached the gate with relaxed fins and ease on his mind, knowing he’d be encountering the distressed individual in a heightened state of panic due to the smaller pool and lack of escape. He’d be kind. He’d be gentle.

Yeosang had glanced this way and that, and had finally noticed the Mer curled up in a corner with head fins nearly hidden in their hair with how stressed they were. They were about as large as Wooyoung but with small fins, way too small for someone as old or older than them. It was weird, uncommon and unusual, and any other descriptor that could otherwise summarize the uniqueness of this individual.

He tilted his head and huffed softly, “Greetings. I am sorry for the sudden appearance,” Yeosang rumbled evenly.

The Mer twitched, ears slowly perking up. They didn’t move otherwise, body limp against the sand and concrete.

Yeosang crooned interest and respect, chirping now that he got their attention, “I am here to communicate. You are safe. These Landfolk are not to harm. They present no Challenge to you. They are Protectors.”

“No such thing, little eel.” The Mer whispered in reply.

Yeosang warbled, “How so?”

The Mer turned and looked into Yeosang’s gaze, deep brown eyes sunken and dull in a face drawn and emotionless, “They hunt all. How do you suppose you ended up here?”

The Reef Mer hummed thoughtfully, dipping his head in acknowledgment, “I am released from this building every night, stranger. I am not held here. I was once like you but now I am free to come and go. This is not punishment.”

The Mer blinked sluggishly, their gills working overtime in a body unmoving. They were ill, far worse than he’d seen before. Not even Mingi’s occasional week-long fight with fevers ever got this bad, and considering Mingi’s immune system had been compromised in his Past… it was significant.

They finally focused on Yeosang again, pupils wide and eyelids at half-mast. “You have not seen what I have seen, little eel. You do not know the horrors and Challenges I have faced. Do not presume to understand my circumstance.”

The Reef Mer’s ears pinned back for a moment. This Mer had gone from instinctual and enraged to calculating and apathetic in days. Whatever fire that had burned within them had died, and if Yeosang didn’t help, they would soon follow. “I can help you, stranger.”

The Mer moved, unfurling from their coiled and tense position in the corner, “What do you offer?”

Yeosang met their gaze steadily, and then rumbled carefully, “I will help you to freedom—“

The Mer was suddenly before him in barely a breath, eyes frenzied and in a haze, snarling, “Get me out, get me out, get me out. Please, please!”

Yeosang couldn’t stop the sound of surprise that tore through his throat, flinching back and hissing softly, “I can help you but you must do something in return.”

Then, those eyes got desperate. Claws wrapped around the metal bars of the gate, body trembling with the effort they had exerted to swim closer, “Whatever it is, save me, save me.”

Yeosang frowned, flicking his tail and getting ever so closer, those claws reaching out for comfort or support, he didn’t know. All he knew was this Mer was hurting and finally he’d gotten through to them.

He was quiet, thinking, ear twitching when Wooyoung approached. The world was loud and the pod was rumbling concern, but Yeosang could only see the Mer. “You just need to work with the Landfolk.”

The Mer reeled back, teeth flashing, “Impossibl—“

“I can only release you with their help, stranger.” Yeosang reasoned gently.

The Mer was whining discomfort, but looked back at the Reef Mer with brighter eyes than before, “What kind of help? You seem to think them capable of compassion. They slaughtered my pod, have slaughtered countless Mer. You think I will accept help from those they have taken so much from us?”

Yeosang nodded, “They will heal you. All they need is cooperation.”

The Mer growled, another one of their wall-shaking, water rumbling, heart stopping growls, and narrowed their eyes, “And if I don’t, little eel?”

“You will die.” Yeosang smiled, a Landfolk thing but nonetheless expressive, “And it will be painful and prolonged and you will have wished you accepted their help long before the damage became irreparable.

The Mer flared their fins, before they suddenly bent forward, grabbing their hair with their claws, “I can’t, I can’t.”

“You have to,” Yeosang replied. This Mer was not in their right mind and they were hurting. He had to get through to them, he just didn’t know how much it would take.

The Mer kept growling, this time combined with their claws tangled in fistfuls of hair and tears appearing in their eyes, “I can’t!”

Yeosang lowered himself, looking up at them the best he could considering the distance, “You will not be alone. Our pod is here.”

“I have no pod. I have no pod and I have no Matriarch or Protectors and everyone is gone and there’s blood! Blood in the Light and no more comfort. There is nothing, nothing, NOTHING.”

Wooyoung grabbed Yeosang and pulled him away, the Reef Mer pliant in his hands as the sick Mer began more crying and screeching, the sounds somehow never got quieter.

Yeosang couldn’t get the image of desperate eyes and broken spirits out of his head.

They’d try again… they just had to give them time.

Chapter Text

The dream faded from his eyes as his body jolted awake, hands grasping for weapons that weren’t there and for memories lost to time. His blankets were tight around his legs, tangled in fabric that should have been comforting and familiar and instead made his heart jump within his chest.

The room was dark, with early morning sun not reaching his north facing window blocked with the shade of gangly trees.

Looking at the bedside table, his digital alarm glared back with the time in red. Not even 6 in the morning.

Jongho sighed, heavily, grabbing his phone and turning off Sleep Mode, all the notifications it had suppressed being sent through. The work group chat had been active, memes and other videos in their Unserious chat. Thankfully, no one was still talking and he simply checked the chores list pinned to the chat.

Groceries were at the top and he couldn’t help the groan that he let out, sitting up and exhaling. The others would head straight to work so he’d often take the grocery list and get it himself. Hongjoong was the only other employee that actually went out to do this specific chore and, honestly, Jongho was okay with it. It gave him time to think about human food for once instead of the constantly adjusting diet schedules for new Merfolk they took in.

Jongho pulled on his wetsuit and put jeans and a tshirt over top. The shirt was bleached with the figure of a Merfolk on the front with the words “Empty The Tanks” on the back. He had purchased this shirt in support of a Merfolk Right’s Activist group taking an aquarium to court over their mistreatment of their animals.

He shrugged on a neutral toned jacket, slipping on socks and his sandals. Yes, he was aware of the fashion sin he was committing. No, he didn’t care. His feet were cold and he wanted to wear sandals. Two birds, one stone.

Jongho closed his bedroom door behind him, walking into the living room of his tiny apartment. There was a short black couch, marble coffee table, shells as decoration and a bookshelf full of Biology, Zoology, and Merbiology textbooks and the occasional soccer manga.

In the corner of the room was a large tank for his snowflake eel. The filter hummed quietly as he took his multivitamin and reheated chinese takeout from two nights ago. He ate quickly, said softly, “See you later, Goalie.”

His snowflake eel didn’t reply, instead staring at him as it sat happily underneath a piece of rock and coral.

He walked down the hallway, frowning at the flickering fluorescent and yellowing wallpaper as he approached the stairwell. He was only 4 floors up so it wasn’t a problem to go up and down this way. He needed to cardio anyway.

Jongho walked out of the apartment, before freezing and realizing he forgot his wallet.

Quickly, he raced back, grabbed his wallet, locked the door and ran down the stairs and out to his car.

He got into his car, locking the door the moment it was closed, and plugging in his phone. He turned the key, and groaned as the car hummed but didn’t turn on completely. After a few more times, finally the car started. He reversed out and drove to the nearest supermarket, grabbing the groceries in record time. By the time he was done, it was 7 and he was relieved to know he wouldn’t be late to work.

When he walked in with his arms lined with groceries, he spotted Yunho talking to their resident Mer partners. With barely a word, huffing through the exertion of holding all the grocery bags he could manage, Yunho was helping with a spring in his step and a bright grin on his face that made Jongho wish he’d stayed in bed.

Everyone was so lively and he had barely slept and all he wanted to do was pass out in the breakroom.

Hongjoong and San walked in, conveniently, after they’d brought in all the groceries. San, of course, yelled.

Finally, Jongho made his way to the Veterinary Wing and checked on the new Mer.

They were still in their corner, but the fish Hongjoong had left yesterday were gone and the splint was still in place.

Jongho splashed the water, watching carefully as the Mer ignored him and instead curled up tighter.

“How are they doing?” Hongjoong asked steadily, kneeling next to the pool. Jongho shrugged.

“They ate the fish you left and they haven’t fucked anything up, so I’d consider that a win.” Yunho joined them, handing them their protective vests, which prompted Jongho to take off his shirt to reveal the wetsuit beneath. He slipped on the vest and sighed, “Hopefully Yeosang will get through to them. You all ready?”

Hongjoong and Yunho walked to either side of the pool and watched as Jongho signalled for San. The man opened the gate from Wooyoung and Yeosang’s pool and sent their new translator over. “Wooyoung is staying here.”

Jongho gave him a thumbs up as they waited for their Mer to get to the gate.

The mottled brown and white Mer came into view, quiet and careful. His eyes flicked around and landed on the patient. A soft warble came from Yeosang, inquisitive and focused. He continued vocalizing until finally, the Mer glanced over and growled.

Jongho knelt, narrowing his eyes as he watched the Mer’s fins flare.

Yeosang crooned and grumbled, the new Mer replying in kind. They went back and forth and then the new Mer was at the gate.

“Get the nets.” Jongho instructed, racing over as Wooyoung made a noise and swam into channel with a loud growl.

Hongjoong and Yunho each grabbed the side of a net and moved it over when Jongho lifted a hand and said sharply, “Wait, wait. Yeosang’s taking care of it?”

“You good Yeosang?” Hongjoong asked, louder than necessary.

The Merfolk both were busy vocalizing, when their new patient moved away suddenly, growling deeply and whining. Wooyoung pulled Yeosang away and the new Mer grabbed at their skull, crying out and writhing.

Jongho waved away Hongjoong and Yunho, saying, “Get the smallest fish, they ate some so they should take more. We need to get them to a healthy weight if Yeosang can’t continue today.”

Their new Mer whined louder, voice shaking as they swept into a lower growl that shook Jongho’s chest. They pulled at pink hair and dug claws into sensitive skin, eyes wide and teeth bared.

They were breaking under the stress, internally fracturing from the strain of merely being here.

Jongho said softly as Hongjoong returned, “Let’s see if we can get them to focus on us. They might do better if they have something to do.”

Hongjoong nodded, “I believe you’re right.” The blue-haired man splashed the water and called, “Come here, bud. We got food for you.”

The Mer crooned, eyes distant.

Hongjoong sighed softly, saying, “I’m about to do something impulsive and stupid, do not stop me.”

Jongho raised an eyebrow, “My therapist will know your name, hyung.”

“They already do, Jongho! That’s no threat!” Hongjoong replied and then jumped into the water, taking the bucket of fish with him.

Jongho reached for the man and swore softly, “Dude, seriously?! You are constantly telling us not to get into the pools without knowing the Mer well and here you are?!”

“There is method to my madness.” Hongjoong replied sharply, and reached out to touch the Mer.

Yunho made a noise of panic, reaching out, “Hongjoong, seriously stop.”

“I’ll be fine, Yunho. It’ll be ok,” Hongjoong reassured.

He laid his hand against the Mer’s side, and disappeared into the water in a splash and a yelp.

Chapter Text

The Light had granted him opportunity and he would be foolish not to take advantage of the chance delivered unto him.

The Landfolk had stepped into the waters after they had disturbed the surface as if to draw him closer.

Seonghwa had learned that other was a lie and would no longer fall to their deceptions. He was not another prey item drawn in by a light glistening in the depths.

Seonghwa lay still, eyes wide even as he broadcasted a semblance of relaxation in bis body. He would allow them close and then would give them what their species gave his pod.

His Matriarch would be proud of the Mer he had grown to be.

She’d be proud—

Warmth on his side, gentle and firm against the skin and providing a comfortable temperature for the aching muscle beneath. For a moment, only a moment, he found himself truly relaxing into the touch of this Landfolk.

And then all thought disappeared into the recesses of his mind and he was twisting and grabbing the arm of the Landfolk with his claws.

The first cloud of blood in water was slow but the smell of the iron and fear was all consuming and sent his head spinning. He wrapped his tail around the Landfolk’s desperately flailing limbs, feeling soft flesh and fragile bone strain underneath his strength. The cover they wore on their chests were impressive, but they were nothing when the Landfolk was brought into the waters.

He grabbed the Landfolk by the throat, bending closer to be eye to eye with them and flared his fins. He was in control now. He was the authority here and no more Landfolk had power of him.

He’d die before he let them rule him. They were no Matriarchs. They were no Challengers.

They were prey.

Seonghwa lifted the blue-haired Landfolk closer, their eyes glazing over but their hands coming up to grab at the Mer’s wrist. They were small, vulnerable and it made Seonghwa’s chest tighten with adrenaline.

This was a fight he could win, a battle already decided by strength and determination.

He was foolish in his excitement and his focus on the being before him distracted him from the other Landfolk gathering to rescue their podmate.

Seonghwa felt a sharp prodding, growling with the sound like echoing thunder, bringing him and his target to the surface to get a better look.

They had long metal—

They were—

Harpoons. Harpoons.

His Matriarch looked him in the eyes as her blood drifted into the current, pained expression and pale skin which shouldn’t have been pale.

The bloodied end of a long metal weapon was protruding from her chest, her life slipping away before him in painful slow motion.

Seonghwa reached for her, crooning confusion. She wasn’t… her gills weren’t moving. She wasn’t breathing.

She wasn’t—

Her body was ripped away, dragged unceremoniously through the water as his pod cried out in despair.

She wasn’t breathing.

She wasn’t breathing.

Seonghwa met the eye contact of one of the Landfolk standing with metal rods. They weren’t quite like the harpoons, with no sharp end, but they were long and shined like the very weapon that killed his life giver.

The Mer let out a screech, lifting the Landfolk in his clutches above water by the throat and snarling. If they hurt him, he’d kill this Landfolk in front of them.

Their vocalisations were panicked, high pitched and fast. The tallest one, the one with the halo of blonde hair with the rest of it brown, placed the end of the metal rod into the water.

Seonghwa met his eyes, baring his teeth as the blue-haired Landfolk in his hand groaned and whined as they tried to pull away.

The tall Landfolk stared back before hitting the metal rod with a smaller one—

His head felt like it was being crushed, the sound oppressive and loud.

Seonghwa shook his head violently, the sound certainly would become less if he got his hearing fixed. He just had to shake it out. He whimpered pain, feeling his hand weaken its grip and the Landfolk fall into the water.

The sound didn’t stop, the metal rod ringing out loudly continually.

The blue-haired Landfolk made the mistake of brushing against Seonghwa as he made his feeble escape.

The Mer twisted, disoriented but chasing the sensation, and grabbed for them. Claws met rubbery cover and he dug them into the surface.

He felt bone and kept going.

Seonghwa brought the Landfolk close to him, vision blurry, and looked directly into eyes blown wide by fear and agony.

Those eyes…

They…

His Matriarch had deep brown eyes with such emotion and care, and even if Seonghwa was actively attacking this individual they still looked back with the same gentle expression despite their pain.

Seonghwa released the Landfolk, ripping his claws out of what was their thigh. More blood. More iron. More fear.

The Landfolk’s eyes fluttered closed.

The eyes that reminded him of his mother were gone and…

Seonghwa dragged the Landfolk to the edge of the pool, shoving their body onto the rock and leaving to his corner.

He had proven his anger.

He didn’t need to see those eyes in pain any more.

The fire in his chest that had burned up all thoughts finally doused and he was left trembling.

The ramifications of what he had just done…

He didn’t care.

If he was to die here, then perhaps he’d just earned it.

He was tired.

Seonghwa closed his eyes and ignored the smell of blood that filled his senses and the guilt growing like a parasite in his stomach.

Chapter Text

When Hongjoong disappeared under the water, Yunho’s initial thought was: “That’s weird.”

Which was immediately followed by a long train of swears, filling his mind with panic as he processed what was happening.

The Mer had grabbed Hongjoong and was now drowning him below the surface, body wrapped tightly around the man and fins flared and voice overpowering as they growled.

This was the worst case scenario. This was the very situation they tried to avoid. This was what every precaution and every emergency plan and every safety meeting was attempting to avoid.

And now there was an unstable Merperson trying to kill their leader.

Yunho didn’t hear the others through the blood pounding in his ears, heart racing as all terrible thoughts came rushing to his mind as he saw the first cloud of blood escape into the water.

He was moving before he registered the feeling of ground beneath his feet, blindly following a protocol that had been drilled into him years ago.

They needed the emergency metal rods to throw the Mer off with sound. They needed to stop that Mer from killing one of their own, and if the sound bothered their residents and their other patient than he didn’t care. They had to act now and act fast as every second, Hongjoong was losing more oxygen and getting more and more beaten by a creature 3 times his size.

Yunho ripped the metal pole off the wall and grabbed the hammer of sorts next to it, racing back as San and Jongho scrambled to grab nets and sedatives.

The Mer wasn’t quieting down and it was bothering him greatly. The others were going to be agitated by the commotion and now with the hostile vocalizations they’d most definitely be bothered.

Yunho skidded to a stop at the edge of the quarantine pool, holding the pole aloft. The Mer was choking Hongjoong now, with claws around the man’s neck and body constricting the rest of him. There was so much more blood, and through the water he made eye contact with Hongjoong.

He wasn’t doing well, almost out of oxygen, but his face was set in a pleading expression, mouth opening and closing as if to breathe or say something. Hongjoong’s eyes were glazed and dulling, and it was only a matter of time before their best friend died in front of them.

Yunho shoved the pole into the water, hitting the Mer who turned to look at him. The Mer froze, staring at the pole with an oddly human look of pure, unadulterated fear.

And perhaps it was cruel, and perhaps it was out of line, but Yunho felt a sliver of satisfaction.

This motherfucker had messed with the wrong humans.

Yunho was about to put the metal rod again the bottom of the pool when the Mer launched upwards with Hongjoong held in their grasp like a doll. The man gasped quietly, finally getting more air, while the Mer growled and snarled. They bared their teeth and met the gaze of all three humans ready to fight, as if saying: “If you want him, you’ll have to go through me.”

Yunho met their gaze coldly.

The Mer looked back with a sneer and a strangely terrified look in their eyes.

They were trying to do something, prove something, but in the state they were and with the man they were holding… Yunho couldn’t bring himself to care. Blood still pumped in his ears and he looked within himself to find sympathy and only felt a primal rage and urge to protect his friend.

Yunho shoved the metal rod against the floor of the pool and reared back his arm. With all of his strength, he started to hit the pole.

The sound was loud and painful to his hearing. But if it hurt for him, he was agonizing for Mer.

Distantly, he heard Wooyoung, Yeosang, Mingi, and their other patient all begin whining and crying out.

Whatever they were doing didn’t matter to him.

All he knew is that the Mer dropped Hongjoong and began writhing around in spastic and erratic ways, voice suddenly shifting to something desperate and pained instead of angered and confident.

A wave of relief washed over prematurely; he couldn’t stop the scream that he let out when the Mer suddenly twisted and grabbed Hongjoong as he tried to swim away.

Even through the water he could see sharp claws pierce wetsuit and skin, and judging by the way Hongjoong arched over and screamed in the water, it had hit bone and had done far more damage than the initial attack.

Hongjoong turned and grabbed at the Mer and Yunho saw them make direct eye contact, inches from each other’s face.

Yunho kept hitting the metal pole even as the Mer’s expression suddenly became one of mourning and longing. He wouldn’t stop till they stopped.

Finally, finally, the Mer ripped their claws out of Hongjoong’s thigh.

And, surprising them all, dragged the now unconscious Hongjoong to the edge of the pool and threw the man onto the concrete roughly, disappearing into their corner and hiding themselves as much as possible.

Yunho pulled the metal pole out of the water, setting it aside with the hammer, and raced around the pool to Hongjoong, who was now being checked and shaken by Jongho and San.

They called his name.

Yunho called an ambulance.

Jongho grabbed gauze and tried to pack the wound, prevent any more blood loss as San grabbed Hongjoong’s upper body and hugged him close, eyes clouded by memories and tears.

Yunho heard the voice on the other end ask neutrally, “Hello, this is Emergency Services, how can we help you?”

He stared at the bloodied form of his best friend and said shakily, “We… need an ambulance at the KQ Marine Life Centre… a Mer just attacked a caretaker.”

The voice got more intense as they registered what exactly was being communicated.

Mer attacks were generally rare, as wild Mer were avoidant instead of confrontational to humans, but captive Mer were known for their unpredictable nature and tendency to lash out.

And almost always, lives were lost.

“Is the victim in critical condition? Is the Merperson separated from them?”

Yunho nodded instinctively, froze, and said, “Our Veterinarian is trying to stabilise him. The Mer is away from him, yeah. We just, we really need the ambulance.”

“Of course, officers and EMT’s have been dispatched,” the voice reassured. “Are you okay, sir? Is anyone else hurt?”

Yunho couldn’t stop the tearful laugh that bubbled forward through the nerves, “I’m fine, everyone is fine! It’s just him. It’s just him.”

The operator hummed gently, saying, “Sir, the ambulance will be there in less than five minutes.”

“Can… May I hang up? I—I want to go be with them…”

“Of course, Sir. The ambulance will be there soon. Keep breathing. You’ve got this, sir. Your friend will be okay.” The operator sounded confident, and in that Yunho found the strength to hang up and move trembling legs forward.

Yunho fell to his knees beside Hongjoong, who had started to wake up.

His throat was bruised, his eyes bloodshot and his body shaking. Shock. His best friend was in Shock.

Yunho met those pained eyes with as steady of a gaze he could muster, saying firmly, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Breathe, Hongjoong. It’s okay.”

The man let out a groan, the sound coming out scratchy and weak from his damaged throat. His eyes were blown wide from fear and his jaw was clenched.

Jongho muttered an apology before shoving his entire weight onto the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Hongjoong didn’t seem to register the apology as his eyes went impossibly wider and a shredded scream ripped through his throat.

Yunho shushed him as San held him tighter, the younger man still staring into the distance with tears in his eyes.

“You’re okay, Hongjoong. You’ll be okay, hyung. Keep breathing,” Yunho instructed, placing his hand against the man’s cheek gently to guide his eyes to Yunho’s again.

The shorter man was breathing shallow and quick breaths, hyperventilating as the panic overrode any instinct that tried to get him to calm and listen to Yunho.

The ambulance pulled into the Staff Parking section and Yunho had raced to the garage door and opened it, leading the EMT’s to Hongjoong.

Jongho and San were firmly but gently pulled away, Hongjoong’s body shaking more violently.

The EMT’s worked quickly and got Hongjoong on a gurney and to the ambulance is what had to have been record time.

Jongho was holding San, who was crying heavily now that he had been separated from their injured leader. Jongho was also in tears, but his jaw was set in determination and Yunho felt the responsibility of going with Hongjoong fall to him.

Perhaps it would be better this way, too.

If Hongjoong died then at least it was in front of Yunho instead of their younger coworkers.

As the ambulance pulled away with Hongjoong, Yunho and the EMT’s inside, Yunho felt his heart sink.

He was leaving.

He was leaving and he desperately prayed that he’d return with Hongjoong at his side.

Chapter Text

Ink pulled at his vision and as much as he fought the despair and exhaustion, he couldn’t find purchase in the numbing whirlwind of his mind.

Animalistic need to protect himself drew him forward despite his inability to focus and he gained enough strength to stay alert for a moment. There were hands, there were warm hands and they were gentle and firm and along with the touch there were words and he couldn’t understand them but they were there.

The tone in the voice, light and midway between deep and high pitched, was familiar and every instinct said that this was a friend but his logical mind had deserted him long ago and he couldn’t stop the quick breaths he tried to bring into his lungs. He needed to wake up, truly wake up, and no matter how hard he fought there was a wall he couldn’t push past.

He heard more voices, those he didn’t recognise, and the fear almost sent him spiralling but then there was plastic over his mouth and he was breathing in something that didn’t taste like air and then his grip on the world faded.

There was movement and it was nauseating and he couldn’t stand it and no matter how he twitched he couldn’t find balance. His body was not his to control, he sensed, and this only brought him to the edge of a cliff of despair; his throat vibrated with a broken noise of confusion.

He was lost in his body, unsure of what controlled what and how he could stop the movement he felt all around him. His heart was quick as a rabbit in his chest and he would have found peace in knowing he was alive if only he could open his eyes and see for himself.

There were unfamiliar voices with words indiscernible and every passing second brought a feeling of suspense and expectation. If this was what it felt like to die he would very much like to have the process expedited.

His distress ruled him and it would have destroyed him from the inside out if soft skin hadn’t begun to gently rub circles into his forehead, a worn and kind voice whispering sweet nothings to a brain too distracted to catch.

The panic almost won and then the movement stopped and there was another sensation of plastic over his mouth and nose, another taste of not-quite-air, and he was falling into the darkness that so desperately tried to claim him.

There was beeping not so far from him and if it didn’t give him a sense of stability he would have found it fucking annoying. There were still voices. His brain told him he was lying on his stomach and that he couldn’t feel his leg but he couldn’t find the right response and simply let his mind wander off into the abyss.

Tears were being wiped from his cheeks as he registered his surroundings slowly. He wasn’t home. Home smelled like salt water and cologne. Home felt warm and comfortable. Home was distinctly his and wherever he was felt so cold and sterile that he couldn’t possibly be home.

His vocal cords were bruised, he realised, as he groaned with the exertion of attempting to move.

The hand that had wiped his tears—Was he crying?—returned and cupped the side of his face. The skin was calloused on the palms but whatever this being was has moisturised well enough that there lingered the scent of lotion. This is a hard worker , he thought through the smoke in his mind.

There was more cold and wetness on his cheeks and he couldn’t believe it! The hand wiped away the tears again and their voice, something familiar, hummed a nursery rhyme he hadn’t heard since childhood.

He tried to move his arms, which only trembled under the strain, and leaned his face against the hand, expressing his gratitude with a content hum.

The voice kept humming, seemingly spurred on by the response, and the other hand rested on his arm. The same arm that had tried to move was now gently covered by a large hand and he found himself drifting off under the ministrations of this person.

As his brain finally returned to sleep, he vaguely understood the words said. They were quiet and full of emotion but they were simple and an instruction he was all too happy to obey, “Sleep, Hongjoong. Sleep. It’s okay.”

Hongjoong awoke with a start, heart-rate jumping as his eyelids opened and his mouth parted for a broken whine to escape. He was scared and scared and lost and scared and where was he?!

Eyes desperately flicked around, taking in the room. Chairs, dim lights, white walls, white tile, scent of sanitiser, bedside table with a lamp and flowers on it.

Person. There was a person next to him.

He tried to sit up, but got only a few inches before falling back against the pillows.

The person, the man, they… they had brown hair with a halo of blonde dyed in expertly, they had large eyes that stared back, and were tall. So extraordinarily tall and—

Yunho, it was Yunho. It was Yunho, thank god it was Yunho.

Hongjoong felt a sob rip through him as his ears finally registered sound and he realized that his friend was trying to help him calm down.

How could he calm down?!

He was numb, he was cold, he was in a hospital bed—

A hospital bed, how did he..?

THE MER!

Hongjoong grabbed for Yunho, hand tangling in shirt as he pulled the other man closer, the words dying on his friend’s tongue as Hongjoong said in a croaking whisper, “Is the Mer okay?”

Yunho stared back, large hands pulling Hongjoong’s off of his shirt, eyes full of patience and… there were tears in them too.

Yunho softly rubbed Hongjoong’s hands and said gently, “Everyone is going to be okay, hyung. You need to breathe.”

The older man glared back, whispering sharply, “I am breathing! I’m perfectly fine. I’m fine!”

Yunho shook his head, “Hongjoong, you are hyperventilating. I need you to take some deep breaths for me, okay?”

Hongjoong exhaled slowly, or at least tried to, when his chest expanded against his will and…

He was hyperventilating, he was really hyperventilating.

He was—

The door opened and a nurse rushed in, seeing his panic and looking to Yunho, “If he can’t catch his breath, I’m going to sedate him. If he hurts his throat more he will take longer to recover.”

Yunho nodded.

They had this conversation ignoring him, and his brain scrambled in an attempt to take control of his traitorous body. He didn’t need to sleep anymore, he needed to get back to the Centre and help that Mer, he needed to get back and make sure San and Jongho were okay, he needed—

Something… changed. He glanced over to see the nurse injecting something into the IV and he tried to reach for her to stop her…

He couldn’t… he couldn’t lift his arms. He couldn’t lift his head. He was stuck.

He was..

Yunho shushed him kindly, saying with an infinite warmth and understanding in his voice, “I’ve taken care of everything, you just need to rest.”

Hongjoong’s tongue felt thick in his mouth and he couldn’t find the strength to speak, eyes desperate even as the willpower to keep them open started to crack under the weight of the drugs now in his system.

Yunho smiled, “I’ll be here when you wake up, it’s okay, hyung. Just sleep.”

And, well, Hongjoong had lost the strength to stay awake anyway.

Chapter Text

The blood still wasn’t gone.

Seonghwa stared at the red tainted water, tasting the iron on his tongue as the movement of water and footsteps at the edge of the pool numbed into the background noise.  All he could see was the cloud of blood dissipating into the rest of the pool and he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

He was tired, so incredibly tired. He couldn’t sleep but he was so tired.

His lung felt full of kelp, his head heavy and his skin uncomfortably tight around him. Seonghwa blinked heavily, eyelids weighing down.

His head pulsed and his temples felt like claws that were stabbing into them.

He just wanted to go home.

Seonghwa had eaten a day ago, maybe?

There had been fish. There had been fish somehow and he didn’t question it to eat them.

He was hungry again and it had never really taken it away the burn in his stomach but he at least felt satisfied for moments and slept comfortably.

He had long since had the pain in his ears disappear and instead remained the ache of a memory.

Memories were… well, memories were important to Merfolk.

His Matriarch had taught to their pod the importance of memories starting from when he had first left the Reef.

Matriarch and Lead Protector were close, they had known each other since they were in their gray and had left their Familial Pods to make their own pod.

Seonghwa had been their last offspring and they had doted upon him.

Memories were everything to Mer, and it was important they shared their past memories too.

His Matriarch’s Matriarch had experienced peace in her lifetime, less Landfolk travelling their territories. In his Matriarch’s time the Landfolk hard begun to be more and more frequent.

Seonghwa had been told of the migration routes and the common prey sites and where the meanest Orcas lived to avoid them.

He’d been told of the secrets of Matriarch braids and the ritual care of Merfolk hair.

He’d been taught how to hunt and how to preen.

He’d been taught what his role in a pod could be and what it was.

Seonghwa had been loved and had loved. He had been cared for and cared. He had done his best.

And still had everything ripped from him in a moment’s notice.

Now he didn’t have anyone to share memories with.

He was alone.

He just needed a way out.

Seonghwa blinked, clearing his vision and making the realization that the blood had cleared from the water and on the bottom of this little lagoon were several more fish.

He glanced around, surprised and suspicious.

Seonghwa uncurled from his place in the corner, muscles aching. He was trembling as he swam, reaching out and grabbing the fish quickly.

He stopped swimming and ate the fish quickly, humming his content as he curled up where he  had drifted onto the smooth floor.

Seonghwa stared up at the Light and let his mind wander again.

It had been many, many winters since he’d basked in the Light.

He had lost his pod while living in the Light and ever since he’d watched them be hauled out of their world he’d known he couldn’t stay in the reach of Landfolk.

Seonghwa had stayed at the spot where he’d lost them for days, stuck in his hope that he’d spontaneously turn around and his pod would be there. He’d heard passing fish and dolphins but had stared up at where his Matriarch had been before she was ripped away.

And then his hunger had forced him from his catatonic state and he’d returned to his senses and left.

And he’d never gone back.

He’d found his food source and stayed in the deepest recesses of the nearest canyon.

And over the years the food source had begun to deplete. Over the years, he’d seen populations rise and fall.

Seonghwa had seen so much death and suffering that, eventually, it lost its meaning.

And maybe, eventually, he’d lost his grip on the very waters he lived in.

Spending so long, spending so many moments alone, he’d lost his mind.

And he wouldn’t have noticed if these little fish for Mer hadn’t ripped him from his home.

He blinked, pulling himself from his thoughts as a gentle croon echoed through the water.

He looked from where he lay and noticed the little eel from the day before.

Seonghwa stared back, trying to study body language he’d long since forgotten how to read. He looked to this Mer knowing he was Mer but seeing another species entirely.

The Mer kept vocalizing, eyes gentle but deep to an extent he did not recognize.

Seonghwa closed his eyes.

He’d given up on himself long ago.

He was just waiting for everyone else to catch on.

Chapter Text

Hongjoong had been taken away hours ago. It was the end of the day now and the new Mer had been silent the entire day which was only getting more and more concerning considering they’d mauled his pod member.

Yeosang’s brow furrowed as he glanced around the rock alcove in his and Wooyoung’s home pool. The Landfolk had made it for him when he was still in recovery from the accident that caused the pair to get taken in by the Centre.

He shook himself and returned to thinking about the new Mer in their midst.

Any Mer who’d just attacked a member of an unknown pod would be loud in their own defense, proclaiming their innocence or further proving their violence. It was not common for pods to clash ending in blood. Often, Matriarchs or leaders of Bachelor pods would communicate to amicably figure out a solution. Though, mostly, both pods would go their separate way.

The Mer that were unstable or uncultured enough to attack without warning or proper Challenge were temporarily socially isolated as a consequence. If a Mer killed without Challenge, they were exiled from their pod.

There was no room for senseless violence in the oceans made to kill them. There was no room for killing when they struggled to survive anyway.

Yeosang hummed and then swept his tail into motion and was quickly surfacing with barely a sound. He went to the submerged training platform that the caretakers knelt on when doing recall and pulled himself onto the platform, torso gills closing as he lifted himself higher to see around the room.

San was kneeling at the non-resident Mer patient’s pool, the young one who was healing well, and tossing fish into the water. Jongho was standing in front of the “white board” as they referred to it as. There was a bunch of scribbles and lines on it and Yeosang knew it was called “writing” but he still didn’t quite grasp the concept.

Yeosang thought and then said in the Landfolk’s language, “Jongho, San, here.”

Both Landfolk instantly turned, Jongho stepping away and San giving one last fish before standing and approaching Yeosang.

The Reef Mer dipped back into the water, gills flaring heavily as he caught his breath. By the time he resurfaced, both Landfolk were knelt at the edge and waiting for him.

Yeosang looked at them earnestly and asked, “Out pool?”

San nodded, his eyes still reddened from his crying earlier. “I can do that for you.”

“No Wooyoung. Me just.”

“Just me. You would say: just me.” San corrected gently as he stood and walked over to the gate. Yeosang followed with his head above the water, watching the Landfolk intently.

The gate opened with a rolling metallic sound and the moment he had enough space he darted out, the gate rolling closed as his tail slipped out and the sound of Wooyoung’s surprise echoing sharply.

The gate shut and Wooyoung’s face pressed against the small window, eyes wide. He’d been particularly close since Hongjoong was taken away and this was only going to stress his partner out.

Knowing this, Yeosang turned and swam to the quarantine pool, ignoring Wooyoung’s cries of distress and panic that thundered through the water.

Yeosang approached the quarantine pool’s gate with a calming croon he remember his Matriarch had vocalized to him when a crab had pinched his fin cruelly, ruining the rest of that particular evening. It was a long and neutral tone with a trill echoing along the end of it that sounded sort of like a dolphin’s echolocation.

He turned the corner and looked through the gate, meeting the gaze of the Mer who had put themself on the floor of their pool and curled up tightly. They stunk of sickness and by the sound of their stuttering breaths and their slow, sluggish movements, they were getting worse by the hour.

Yeosang crooned again, lowering himself to be in eye line with them. They were unbelievably sad if he read them correctly and the general feeling he got from them was something distant and empty.

He crooned again, adding words to his vocalization quietly, “Greetings… you don’t look well, stranger…”

They looked back with half closed eyes and not a sound, and it broke his heart when he realized tears had begun to gather in this stranger’s eyes.

Yeosang’s ears pinned back, “I don’t…” he paused, thinking hard about what he was about to say, “I don’t blame you for harming my pod member, stranger. You are unwell.”

Their face contorted slowly into a pained and disbelieving expression, tears joining the water as they cried silently. Yeosang blinked slowly, expressing vulnerability to this individual who had clearly not had anyone on their side for a while.

“You are unwell and we want to help.” Yeosang’s fins twitched, “We want to help but you have to be willing to cooperate.”

The Mer looked away, pale and so clearly tired as their indecision grew and grew. Yeosang had dealt with Wooyoung on his worst days and this individual was no different. Patience was required when trying to help a Mer like this.

The hum of the water being cycled filled the silence and Yeosang just continued crooning until they turned back and whispered hoarsely, “I am not worth the grief you will go through to save me, little eel.”

Yeosang nodded, then replied softly, “How do you know if you haven’t given yourself a chance, stranger?”

“I’ve been like this for years. There is no redemption for me and there is no future of yours that includes me. It’s my time. I will find peace, just not in this Light.” Their voice was calm despite its scratchiness and their general appearance. They believed every word they said.

Yeosang shook his head, “With all respect, I disagree. Whatever condemned you to this state should not be allowed to consume you. Your life is worth more than you think, and I think you would be surprised at how much those here would be willing to do to help you.”

The stranger huffed, “When your podmate doesn’t return, you will feel quite opposite to how you are now. I was not built for kindness, little eel. I was built for loss and suffering and the more you work to help me the more you will lose too.”

Yeosang frowned, “If you think so, then prove it. Spend time with us and show us your self-established curse, stranger. See how we help you and then prove me wrong in my hope for you.”

The stranger blinked, once, twice, and then bared their teeth, “Is that a Challenge, little eel?”

Yeosang smiled sweetly, “Perhaps an unorthodox one, but yes. I Challenge you to live. If you live and enjoy living, I win. If you prove my naivety and end up being a curse, you win. What do you say, stranger?”

They stared back with tears still in their eyes but a hardened expression, maybe even a glimmer of something akin to hope in their face.

“Challenge accepted, little eel.”

Yeosang dipped his head, “I am Kang Yeosang, glad to be a worthy opponent, stranger.”

The Mer closed his eyes, huffed, and replied, “Park Seonghwa. You will lose gracefully.”

The Reef Mer smiled, turned, and silently congratulated himself.

One step closer. One step closer to helping someone who needed it.

They had a name now.

Park Seonghwa.

Yeosang thought for a moment… He swore his Matriarch had whispered that name before…

Eh, it was probably a different Seonghwa.

Chapter Text

San waited by the partners’ pool, Wooyoung pacing and grumbling and sending him hostile glares every time he passed by the gate. The man looked away, watching through the glass in the floor for Yeosang. He had followed and supervised the interaction between the Mer and their resident Mer and after they’d finished their quiet discussion, Yeosang had left with an excited look on his face.

San watched as the Mer finally arrived, pulling the gate open. Yeosang surfaced to talk to him when Wooyoung tackled the Reef Mer. Yeosang let out a sharp growl, claws instantly going to Wooyoung’s gills and pressing into the sensitive flesh. The Ocean Mer yelped and writhed, tail slamming into Yeosang and sending himself away.

Yeosang bared his teeth, and then turned to San with a smile, “Hello!”

San closed the gate and knelt, smiling in response, “Hi! You seem much more excited than you were earlier. What happened?”

“Name! Hunted name!” Yeosang bobbed his head, “Park Seonghwa!”

San’s brow furrowed, and then he gasped violently, “The Mer’s name is Park Seonghwa!?”

Yeosang trilled heavily, spinning and nodding, “Yes!”

San jumped up, looking to Jongho who was writing down the feeding schedules on the whiteboard, “Yeosang-ie got the new Mer’s name!”

Jongho turned, “Dude, are you serious?!”

San nodded, “Yep! Write down ‘Park Seonghwa’! Hongjoong is gonna be so happy when he hears we got a name. Hongjoong…”

Hongjoong—

Distantly, he felt his bruised knee scream an agonized protest, and distantly he sensed his rational mind scrambling to gain control again.

His chest constricted painfully, his lungs feeling as though a boa had curled around his chest and squeezed with all its might. San reached for his heart, trying to free it from the pressure gathering around it.

He couldn’t draw in another breath, couldn’t free himself from the building pain.

San’s vision was clouded with red, and he swore he could hear Hongjoong’s shuddering breaths and feel the man’s body trembling in shock.

He had been dying in San’s arms.

He had been dying.

And then he was taken away and he hadn’t seen the little leader since.

It wasn’t only a Mer dying in his arms. Now it was one of his best friends.

Everything dear to him was bound to die in his arms.

Everything—

The pressure in his chest was replaced by a much more powerful pressure on top of his chest, his body fighting as he felt each breath working against the weight on him.

San opened his eyes, staring upwards towards the lights.

A figure moved into his view—

San breathed heavily, mouth opening as if to draw in more air. His eyes unfocused as he saw the vision of Hongjoong’s pale face staring at him from the grasp of the Mer.

The weight on his chest got heavier and he was jolted from the memory, whining heavily.

“Okay, okay. It okay. Okay!” The voice wasn’t human but it was familiar and warm.

San’s face was wet and he blinked to try to get rid of the feeling when the realization dawned on him that those were tears, and specifically his tears.

The voice was Wooyoung’s, he recognized.

The Mer was lying on his chest and looking at him with a concerned expression. San’s breathing slowed down, Wooyoung’s eyes widening. “Breathe, yes. Breathe.”

San blinked, the world coming into focus.

Jongho stood next to his head while Yeosang stared at him from the pool. Wooyoung crooned softly, resting his cheek against San’s cheek and trilling.

“I’m—I’m okay, Wooyoung-ie.”

He sat up, pushing the Mer back into the water as gently as possible. Wooyoung warbled as he crashed into the pool, Yeosang moving out of the way.

Jongho smiled down at San, saying, “Are you really okay? You haven’t had a moment like that in, like, years.”

San nodded, “I’m okay. I’m okay. Tired but okay.”

Jongho knelt down, “Want me to text Yunho and ask him how Hongjoong-hyung is doing?”

San thought for a moment, looking at Yeosang, who was reaching for his hand timidly. Yeosang frowned and looked at San’s face, crooning quietly. San looked back at Jongho and nodded, “Yeah, please. We got a name, I had whatever that was, it’d be nice to hear some… some good news.”

Yeosang huffed, getting San’s attention. The man turned and hummed, “What’s up?”

“You okay?”

San nodded. He was absolutely, positively okay and definitely not spacing out with brain fog that should really be classified as brain smoke with how badly it was clouding his ability to think.

The Mer crooned again, Wooyoung swimming to the edge of the pool and pulling himself closer to San with a harmonic croon that went perfectly with Yeosang’s.

San blinked. They were musical, a beautiful match.

And in the midst of the trance he’d gone in to, Jongho’s hand landed roughly on his shoulder. He was going to say something, anything, and then he saw the mortified expression on the younger man’s face and everything around him faded.

Chapter Text

Mingi watched quietly from his home pool as San and Jongho ran out of the Centre, securing the exit behind them as they left. On the ground next to Yeosang and Wooyoung’s pool was the bucket that might have held more fish that the Landfolk forgot to give, and well, Mingi had room for more food.

When the Landfolk were gone, Mingi warbled in thought and then swam to the edge of the pool. He chirped quietly and then brought himself to the gate that stopped him from leaving. He spread his fins to support him as he reached up to grab the handle.

The handle was always so hard to grab and while Mingi didn’t necessarily like sneaking out, he was peckish and wanted more fish so this was not him breaking rules, but instead him hunting for himself.

Wooyoung and Yeosang were vocalizing in low tones and Mingi would have eavesdropped if he didn’t get a good grasp on the handle of the gate and pulled the gate away, moving it from blocking his “escape”.

Mingi giggled to himself, falling back into the water and swimming into the channel. He looked into the window that saw into his pods’ home pool, warbled and then hooked his claws in the slight indent and pulled the gate to the side. Wooyoung and Yeosang glanced over and Mingi dipped his head, trilling a greeting.

Yeosang’s tail twitched and his claws swept in a gathering motion, inviting him in.

Mingi swam into the pool, surfaced, and grabbed the bucket, looking into it with great intensity.

His tail splashed the water as he realized there were absolutely no fish and that he had pursued a prey that didn’t even exist.

Mingi turned around, tossing the bucket away as he dove back into water, Wooyoung croaking a concerned and confused noise. Mingi looked at him, shaking his head and groaning disappointment. Yeosang’s head tilted, “What happened?”

“Hungry, Sang-ie. I was hoping there would be extra prey,” Mingi explained.

Wooyoung’s ears pinned back as his fins flared forward, “You were fed on time, though? The Landfolk wouldn’t forget you!”

“They didn’t forget, Wooyoung! They are very diligent in their handling of prey. I am just still hungry.” Mingi dipped his head again, rolling onto his back and looking at the partners’ expressions carefully. He intended to express his neutrality and his lightheartedness, but from their concerned reactions he didn’t succeed.

Mingi crooned, “I’m really okay, I’m not that hungry.”

Yeosang shook his head, “No, we’ll get you more. It’s okay.”

Wooyoung swam out into the channel, leading the small group to the supervision tank. Mingi glanced at Yeosang, “The stranger is there, though.”

The other Reef Mer looked back at him, humming reassuringly, “They are not a danger. Don’t worry.”

“They hurt Hongjoong, though, remember?”

“They are unwell, Mingi. They are like us when we first got here.” Yeosang said. “I’ll grab you something from the cold box to eat. The Landfolk won’t be back for a while.”

Mingi grumbled, the three turning down next part of the channel. The scent of rot and decay, the scent of illness, got stronger the more they approached the stranger’s pool.

Mingi whined, Wooyoung and Yeosang answering with their own trills. The group turned the last corner, the Merfolk reaching the supervision pool which was directly opposite the quarantine pool.

Yeosang swam over to the stranger’s pool, chirping a greeting. Mingi glanced over and nearly knocked himself into the wall of the channel when he realized the stranger was waiting next to the gate and curled up on the floor of the pool.

“Little Eel Challenger.”

Mingi’s fins flared.

Their voice was hollow, and their eyes were sunken and dull; their claws held the gate tightly and with every struggling breath they seemed to get more and more exhausted.

He… why was he so scared of this sad Mer before?

And then he noticed their teeth they bared as they spoke, sharp and stained on the points. He noticed the muscle, though mostly faded, rippling beneath pale and thin skin. He noticed the quick movements of their eyes tracking the three Merfolk now visible to them.

He noticed that every small detail was that of a predator and that even though they spoke with formality and an even tone, they were every inch a hunter.

Yeosang bowed his head, which was surprising to see considering he was the eldest in their little trio, and hummed respectfully, “Greetings, Challenger.”

Wooyoung growled quietly as he brought Mingi forward to open the supervision pool gate. His eyes never left the Mer, while Mingi very pointedly avoided all eye contact as much as possible. He grabbed the window of this gate and pulled it open, swimming inside the moment there was enough space for him, he darted inside.

The other Mer watched them from their spot curled up against the gate, gaze following them as Wooyoung followed Mingi inside the pool.

Yeosang swam towards the other two of their little pod, saying calmly, “We retrieve food from the Landfolk. If you are hungry, I will grab you some.”

The Mer looked genuinely impressed for a moment, “You hunt, little eel?”

“Yes. I retrieve for my podmates.” Yeosang glanced back at them with a smile.

The Mer hummed, closing their eyes, “If this is not too much a burden… could you hunt me some?”

Mingi warbled, ears pinning. What was this stranger doing? And they had referred to each other as Challenger. Were these two fighting?

He’d never been formally explained Challenges himself, mainly picking up that it was something Merfolk did for pride or ego or something and he didn’t quite understand it but it had to be serious if all he’d heard from Yeosang and Wooyoung had been correct.

Wooyoung approached the gate, bared his teeth and hissed, “We’ll get our prey for us, stranger.”

The Mer looked at Wooyoung without batting an eye, still curled up and unmoving from that spot, “I’m not a stranger anymore. Your little eel should have told you.”

Yeosang hummed, “Ease, Wooyoung. We’ll get our food and return to our pool. Don’t defend me right now.”

Wooyoung huffed, swimming back into the supervision pool with Yeosang following closely.

Mingi looked at Yeosang, “You are friends with this new Mer?”

“Not friends yet, Mingi. We are simply Challengers.”

“What’s the Challenge?” Mingi hummed, this time with a high pitched nervous trill.

Yeosang hummed, “They are going to get well, and if they are more of a danger to us than a help, they win. If they are kind and honest, I win.”

“That’s… not a usual Challenge… right?”

“Not usual, but this Challenge is still worthy,” Yeosang replied.

Mingi nodded, swimming to the edge of the pool as Yeosang pulled himself onto the floor outside the pool. With the grace of a walrus, he pulled himself across the floor towards the cold box.

Wooyoung stared at the Mer in the quarantine pool, growling getting louder every second. Mingi turned, tail nudging the Ocean Mer in the chest and baring his teeth, “Yeosang claimed they were safe, enough of your posturing.”

Wooyoung snarled, grabbing Mingi’s tail—

Luckily, the Ocean Mer froze and then swam away, whining discomfort and anger.

Mingi exhaled slowly, pulling himself out of the water to watch Yeosang more clearly. The Mer had made it to the cold box, gills shut tightly in defense against the pure air. He had opened the box and was now pulling fish out of it and shoving the tails of the fish into his mouth to hold them. He then closed the box, turned and began the task of pulling himself towards the supervision pool again.

They had done this lots of times, and the Landfolks had never caught them. Well, Jongho had almost caught them that one time but they’d played it off well.

Mingi moved out of the way as Yeosang made it back, the other Reef Mer diving in and instantly pulling the fish from his mouth. He tossed a few to Mingi and then swam to the quarantine pool. Wooyoung passed Mingi in a flash and pinned Yeosang to the floor of the channel, attempting to grab the fish from his claws.

Mingi growled, swallowing the fish he’d been given and lunging for Wooyoung.

Yeosang slapping Wooyoung across the face with his free hand, Mingi grabbing the Ocean Mer and using his superior strength to rip the protective and instinct driven Mer away.

Yeosang turned and gave the Mer the fish, taking off down the channel towards their home pool. Mingi shoved Wooyoung away, who took off after Yeosang.

The Mer looked at Mingi, blinking slowly with the fish held close to their chest, “Those two are… chaotic.”

Mingi nodded, “They just… Wooyoung is a bit stressed right now. He gets protective when he’s stressed.”

The Mer nodded, “Wooyoung and Yeosang… what is your name, little fish?”

Mingi dipped his head, staring at the gate, “I am Song Mingi. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Park Seonghwa. Thank you for helping your pod leader to get me some prey.”

“Yeosang isn’t the leader. Just the eldest. We aren’t really an official pod. We’re just friends,” Mingi replied.

Seonghwa nodded, “I suppose you should return to your friends, then.”

Mingi hummed reassurance, closed the supervision pool gate, and took off after his friends.

Park Seonghwa. Nice name, and even though he was really scary and intimidating, he seemed respectful enough. Seonghwa… he’d never heard that name before…

Chapter Text

Wooyoung swept into the home pool after Yeosang, tunnel-visioned on his partner’s claws that were now empty of fish but had just dared to give a dangerous monster a meal. His throat vibrated violently with the force of the growl ripping through him, his teeth bared and his eyes wide.

Yeosang twisted, tail coiling under him and facing the Ocean Mer with stretched hands and claws flashing with the light above. His body was stiff but his eyes were cold and stern despite the tension in him.

Wooyoung stopped inches from the other Mer’s face, almost forehead to forehead as he put himself higher in the water. His muscles trembled with the effort to contain the swirling emotions inside. He was a hurricane, a storm brewed from defensive instinct and a fragile security.

Yeosang said slowly, quiet as Wooyoung’s vocalizations got louder and louder with the building restraint, “You are going to make a mistake if you continue like this, Wooyoung.”

The Ocean Mer made direct eye contact now, hissing as he replied, “We owe them nothing! They hurt me, they hurt Hongjoong, they are nothing but a burden on us!”

The Reef Mer regarded him with a blank face, before quick claws reached out and grabbed Wooyoung by the neck gills, “You misjudge your place. You are not the leader here, you are not the one directing this pod. You are lower than me and you will rely on my judgment on these matters or you will be put in your place.”

Wooyoung tensed, intending on pulling away from the claws threatening his gills, when Yeosang grabbed only tighter and pushed Wooyoung lower than him, “I have been very forgiving, Wooyoung. Very… forgiving…”

Wooyoung’s rage subsided with the emotion cresting his partner’s face. This was not the usual display of exasperation or long-suffering tolerance. This was true anger within this even-keeled individual, and maybe he’d gone too far, but he was only just realizing how his behaviour had been affecting the older Mer.

Yeosang released his grip on Wooyoung’s neck, claws sliding out of the sensitive gills that now bloomed with blood. It wasn’t enough to do serious damage but it was enough pain to send a message. “What is your reasoning for your ignorance?”

Wooyoung swam to a safe distance from the Reef Mer, the growl jumpstarting again as his emotions were finally recognized, “You have shown empathy for that stranger and hunted for them without even thinking to ask how me or Mingi felt. It’s irresponsible and rude to consider us lesser than you just because of age—“

Yeosang moved closer, fins flaring and ears pinning back sharply, “You believe I think you as lesser because of your age, Wooyoung?!”

“Yes—“

Yeosang growled now, a discordant noise not often used to this extent. It was a sound he’d not ever liked and even now his instincts demanded him flee from this predator before him. The Reef Mer hissed, “You are lesser because you are immature and instinctive. You are lesser because you act before you think about how it affects the pod. You are lesser, not because of your age, but because you act like you are still a foolish gray calf. Don’t you dare assume how I view you is because of age. You are disrespectful to all without caring for how they may feel. You are still a child.”

Wooyoung’s ears pinned back this time, fins flattening against his body, “You—“

Yeosang snarled, “Don’t try to turn this back on me. Don’t turn it on Mingi, or Sannie, or Hongjoong, or Yunho, or Jongho. This is your behaviour. Own up to it.”

The Ocean Mer’s growls were snuffed out by the words of his partner, his body angling away in an attempt to signify submission. Yeosang didn’t seem to care, though, “You ought to be thankful for every Merfolk and Landfolk here. Your disregard for others is cataclysmic and it’s about time you begin acting like the adult mer you are.”

Wooyoung blinked at his partner, before baring his throat and crooning apologies. He’d never seen Yeosang this enraged before— well, maybe there was the one time with the shark but that was not anger towards Wooyoung.

Mingi slid into the home pool as the pair of emotional Mer retreated to either side, his eyes wide with concern. He asked in low tones with an apologetic hum within his voice, “Are you going to be okay…?”

Yeosang looked back at Mingi while Wooyoung ignored the other Mer in favor of studying a rock he’d never seen before. The Ocean Mer mumbled, “Yeah, we’ll be okay.” Mingi turned to the other Reef Mer, and Wooyoung watched from the corner of his vision as Yeosang nodded and exhaled slowly.

Mingi sighed, “Well, now that this incident has been dealt with, uh, I got the new Mer’s name!”

Yeosang hummed pleasantly, “I did as well.”

The Ocean Mer turned, looking at them both as he tried to stop his fins from expressing his emotions, “Not going to inform me? Just going to make it a Reef Mer secret?”

Yeosang snarled suddenly, “Don’t you—“

Mingi swam in between the two, smiling sweetly, “I’ll be glad to tell you if you stop making this about your partnership and more about helping that new Mer with recovering, okay?”

Wooyoung huffed sharply, then nodded and crooning another apology, this time emphasising his love and gratitude for the two Reef Mer in his life.

Mingi hummed appreciatively and Yeosang replied with a warble of discontent and tolerance.

Mingi sighed, “Their name is Park Seonghwa and—“

Wooyoung flinched back violently, nearly slamming into the wall of the pool, “Uh, I don’t think I heard you right?”

The Reef Mer blinked and then said, this time slower and clearer, “Their name… is Park. Seonghwa.”

Unbidden, memories of nightmares in younger years, of checking every dark crevice of a rock or even entire reefs, visions of dark figures disappearing from the corner of his eyes all descended upon him with a feverish intensity that sent him spiralling.

That name had been whispered, almost reverently, through every pod his Matriarch had led them past every Migration when they left Yeosang’s Matriarch’s Pod’s territory every summer. That name had plagued his youth and into his adulthood, a fear as intrinsic as the fear of Landfolk. That name was spoken of like a legend or myth but Wooyoung knew it had to be real.

The name of a single survivor of an accident that wiped out an entire pod, the name of a suspected killer and the name all Matriarchs hummed to their young as they became braver and more likely to wander off.

Park Seonghwa was the name of a monster that killed his entire pod and was said to be waiting for little calves whenever they strayed too far from their Protectors.

Wooyoung had been only a few winters old when his Matriarch had gripped him by the shoulders and pulled his tiny body close, her warmth usually relaxing and welcoming now tense and desperate.

His Matriarch had looked at him with the affection only a Matriarch could muster and she had whispered with a growl of sincerity and warning, “ Behind every rock, underneath every grain of sand and waiting in the curve of every dune is a monster with blood on his claws and drenched in the guts of his pod. Waiting for you to slip up and leave the safety of us, is Park Seonghwa and his unquenchable thirst for calf flesh and the lifeblood of all Mer .”

And then, with every half moon, his Matriarch would gather them together and recount gore-y detail and gruesome tales of every victim of the monster of the deep. She would terrifying him until he stayed within arms’ reach.

And with her warning, he had survived.

Now, in the safety of his home pool in the Centre made to protect every Mer brought into it, was the demon of his worst fear being protected by his partner and helped by the Landfolks.

Wooyoung felt the primal fear of a calf being hunted, locked in a body unable to move. He felt his arms stiffen over his chest and his tail still in the waters.

Everything made sense now.

The aggressive stranger with the scent of death of them, the sick Mer locked in the quarantine pool who had nearly murdered their Landfolk Protector and had tried to kill him.

That was Park Seonghwa.

And now, not even his Matriarch could protect him.

Chapter Text

Dragging San behind him, Jongho brought them both to his worn, rusting grey car with a dent in the side and several decals of aquariums and universities he'd visited when he was studying. Now, the cleanest and newest decal sat in the middle of the rear window with the figure of a Mer holding a heart. KQ's insignia proudly sitting center. Hongjoong had designed it himself. Hongjoong...

Jongho shook his head, opening the door for San, who rushed into the passenger's seat and buckled his seat belt in record time. Jongho returned to the driver's side, slipping into the car and slamming the door closed as he shoved the car into reverse and sped out of the staff parking and onto the main road.

Going 50 mph on a 40 road felt morally wrong, since its definitely against traffic law, but they had to get to the hospital and fast.

Yunho's voice rang in his ears, "Hongjoong's... You guys should just get here, now. It's urgent."

Jongho had sputtered quietly, "Yunho, what--?"

"You need to get here."

And then the phone call had ended and they were left in the horrifying unknown.

Jongho flicked the blinker to signal left, gliding through an intersection that had gone green as he'd gotten into the turn lane. As he straightened out, he slammed on the gas and moved into the right lane. The sunset glowed red on the trees and hills, people going home like the world wasn't ending before their eyes. 

Jongho leaned back in the seat, eyes so lazer-focused on the road in front of him that he hadn't noticed his face getting wet from tears. He was a bundle of thorns and anxiety.

Yunho hadn't elaborated.

Why hadn't he elaborated? Why wouldn't he give them more information?

Jongho tore into the hospital parking lot, slamming on the breaks in a space in the visitor's parking, throwing the door open and ripping the key out of the ignition. He heard San open the door on his side and shuffle over, Jongho locking the car and leading the charge into the emergency entrance.

And waiting for them was Yunho, who grabbed for their hands and led them toward a hallway, the tallest of this trio bowing his head to a nurse who opened the door for them into a more empty hallway. Jongho tightened his grip on Yunho's hand and asked sharply, tears still slipping down his face and San's footsteps pattering comfortingly against the sterile white linoleum beneath them, "What's wrong?! What happened?!"

Yunho stopped in front of door, throwing it open with an accusatory tone in his voice, "This fucking idiot tried to get out of the hospital and reopened his fucking wounds because he was worried about you two and the Merfolk at the Centre."

Before them, Hongjoong sat, very much alive, very much breathing, and with a deep scowl set in his face.

Jongho turned, San approaching Hongjoong while Yunho stood beside the youngest of the group. Jongho grabbed Yunho by the collar, not at all intimidated by the height of the man in front of him, "You didn't think to explain that in the moment, hyung?!"

Yunho's eyes widened, as if he'd just noticed the tears and red eyes and trembling coworker standing next to him, "I'm--I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just so caught up--"

Jongho shoved Yunho away, drawing in a shaking inhale, "You were caught up!?" His chest heaved as sobs began destroying the calm he'd been trying to maintain, "I thought he was dead!"

San made a noise, trying to interrupt when Yunho grabbed Jongho by the shoulders and pulled the younger man into a hug. Jongho's hands froze in the air, his body shaking. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He's alive, I'm sorry. I was so caught up in my anger that I didn't realize how it would affect you, I'm sorry."

Jongho took deep breaths, closing his eyes and hugging Yunho back even though his rage was sharp and full of teeth, "You-You didn't say anything but 'you need to get here'. How was I supposed to interpret that?"

Yunho hummed, a comforting noise Jongho had heard Mingi make when they were upset near the Mer's pool. "It's okay. I'll do better next time, I'll do better."

Jongho exhaled heavily, evening his breaths and easing himself from such tense emotions to the calm he'd given  up on earlier, "You do shit like that again and I'm quitting, hyung. I'm not even joking, that was the worst I've felt in years."

"You can't quit, you're emotionally attached to us..." A scratchy, unfamiliar voice croaked.

Jongho turned abruptly, looking for the source, and jolted when he realized it was Hongjoong. Now that he was looking at the injured man, his heart dropped into his stomach.

Hongjoong's eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles around them, skin pale and glistening with sweat. His throat was purple and black with the imprint of the Mer's hand that had nearly crushed it. Along his arms and the visible skin of his chest with the hospital gown, he could see lighter bruising in thick swathes along his body. His leg was wrapped thickly, with the thin blanket doing not much for the shivering man. 

Jongho walked over. He was a Merbiologist and even if he specialized in these large marine animals, he could see a fever from a mile away. The hospital was already administering saline and, from the pill bottle sitting on the bedside table, Hongjoong had already taken some fever reducers. There was not much to do now, but watching his hyung shivering in the hospital bed made his heart twist.

He looked weak, and he never looked weak.

Jongho reached out and grabbed Hongjoong's hand, whispering, "Yeah, I'm emotionally attached, you idiot. What were you thinking when you got into the water and touched the new patient?"

Hongjoong shook his head carefully, his other hand resting in San's shaking as his hand balled into a fist. "I was just," a cough, "I was just trying to get his attention, not to trigger him to attack me. There was no hostility to humans we'd witnessed--"

"No hostility? Their first instinct was to manhandle the Submersible. They saw us and instantly did threat displays." Jongho scoffed, "How have you lasted this long, hyung?"

Hongjoong shrugged, "I'm charming--"

San snorted, a bit more lucid than earlier, "Keep telling yourself that."

Hongjoong slapped San's wrist, gently but firmly, "I'm charming. I'm cool. Eden and Maddox trust me with the Mer for a reason, fellas."

Yunho sat on the side of the hospital bed, "You are charming, but not when you are scrambling out of a hospital room, ripping the IV out like a feral cat. You are foolish, and clumsy, and crazy but you're great. You just need to stay in this bed until you can stand without support."

"I wasn't clumsy, Yunho. I wasn't clumsy! I was, like, parkour-ing that shit, dude." Hongjoong whined, the fevered flush in his face adding a surprising cuteness to his chaos.

Jongho sighed, "So that's the reason why we are here? Because you have separation anxiety?"

Hongjoong sputtered, trying to come up with an answer when Yunho nodded with a sly smile, "Yep. He was crying and all that jazz. It's... funny in hindsight."

San sighed, pulling a chair over and sitting, laying his head on the bed and groaning pitifully, "You guys stress me out. I like hanging out with the Merfolk more than you because of this exact behaviour."

Jongho snorted, "Its easier to talk to us, though."

Yunho shrugged, "You know, I understand it. Mingi is so much kinder and less weird than you guys."

Hongjoong shook his head, "Jongho is a much better conversationalist, guys."

San huffed, "He is constantly listening to soccer and baseball games, though."

"How dare you?! At least I'm not listening to pop music, ahem." 

Yunho stood up, instantly beginning to do the choreography to a girl group song, "You ain't got nothing on this, Jongho!"

San and Hongjoong snickered as Jongho looked back and sighed, "You are a fool, hyung. You have challenged me to a dance off."

San giggled, "Dude, no--"

Jongho struck a pose, humming a song and popping and locking to it.

Hongjoong looked at them and waved a hand, "Can you guys take this outside? I'm not well enough for this."

Yunho sighed, "Fine!"

Both of them sat, San looking up and saying, "Did we lock the doors on the way out?"

Jongho nodded, "Yeah. We gave the new patient their meal, though, right?"

San stood up, staring at the youngest of the group, "UHhh..."

Hongjoong sat up fiercely, "Ain't no fucking way. I leave for not even a day and you guys forget to feed the Merfolk?!"

Yunho said sharply, "Don't. Don't you dare move, hyung."

Jongho gestured to San, "Nope, we got this."

The two ran off, the sound of Hongjoong whining fading into the distance as they left the hospital and started the drive back to the Centre.

Chapter Text

A week had passed, a long arduous week of attempting to balance the Centre and Hongjoong’s inability to stay in one place for more than an hour. Yunho had been given the responsibility of keeping the short, blue-haired man in his hospital room, and then when he was released from the hospital, his actual room at his actual apartment.

For all the hard work Yunho did working at a Marine Life Centre that literally only kept Merfolk and proved to be a dangerous and potentially life-threatening workplace, the most difficult thing he’d ever been asked to do while employed there was keep this goddamn idiot in his apartment. Whatever fire in Hongjoong’s stomach that kept him raging with energy was, frankly, impressive. The man had nearly evaded Yunho’s quick reflexes at least five times and every time it ended in the taller man hugging Hongjoong from behind and wrangling him back into his bedroom and closing the door and holding it there for at least a couple minutes.

Now, Yunho had seen his coworker’s home before, either when invited over for a movie night or delivering Hongjoong to his apartment after a night on the town. Hongjoong’s home was… it was surprisingly empty for a man so attached to every person in his life. One might expect walls line with framed photos of close friends and family, maybe even artwork or a proudly hung degree sitting center over a couch…

There was… it was…

Hongjoong had one couch, worn and torn in a couple of spots with a thin throw blanket draped over the frayed armrest. The front room had the couch and then a small TV and a small DVD collection. Next to the TV were bookshelves of fantasy novels that were years old and obviously loved.

Connected to the family room was a kitchen and laundry appliances. The kitchen had a microwave, a refrigerator that was more accurately described as a mini-fridge, and a folding table and folding chairs that were hand painted.

There was a pile of laundry in a basket waiting to be washed, dishes stacked in a tiny sink next to a compact dishwasher. The dishes were well-loved plates given to him by his parents, he’d told Yunho when they’d gotten drunk and crashed at Hongjoong’s place.

The food in this apartment was, honestly, pathetic. Everything was microwavable or canned. The water from the tap was discoloured and unusable. Hongjoong had jugs of clean water lined up against the wall just to drink. How this man managed to gain muscle was beyond Yunho’s comprehension given how terrible the conditions were.

Every time he visited he pointedly ignored the mold in the corner and the handmade, humane mice traps sitting next to the door. Every time he visited, he ignored the fact that the bathroom was barely large enough to spread his arms, with the shower taking up half the room. Every time he visited he tried not to stare at the empty bedroom with a mattress on the floor with threadbare sheets and a dolphin plushie half the size of Hongjoong laying in a corner while the other part of the room was immaculately organized clothing.

The only thing Hongjoong seemed to splurge his money on was fashion, food, and the Centre.

And it broke his heart knowing one of his best friends was living like this.

Which isn’t to say Yunho hadn’t tried.

He’d offered becoming roommates, to find an apartment that wasn’t falling apart at the seams. He’d gone house hunting for them, and even bought Hongjoong a couple books and a tug for his living room.

Hongjoong had seen this and simply bowed, giving his thanks, and refusing with a simple, “I’ve got this! I’d hate to be a burden!”

Yunho pondered about this and these living conditions as he sat on the couch, wrapped in the throw blanket and one of Hongjoong’s winter blankets that were hidden in a cabinet.

Glancing down, he watched as the man, who he looked up to and respected as both a manager and a friend, slept against his side with an oversized sweater and loose sweatpants covering the bandaged wound in his thigh.

He didn’t know what Hongjoong was waiting for, in life, in his career, whatever. He didn’t understand why this man, who had the money to spend on himself, refused to give himself anything more than the bare minimum. He didn’t understand why Hongjoong had poured his heart and soul into the Centre when he could have avoided being poor.

Yunho sighed softly, pulling the smaller man closer and glaring at the TV currently playing reruns of Gilligan’s Island while being mute.

This person was kind to everyone but himself.

And Yunho had no idea how much longer Hongjoong could keep doing this.

When the sun rose the next day, Yunho startled awake to his phone shrieking. He lifted his head from where it had lulled backwards against the couch and grabbed the device that so rudely interrupted his beauty rest. He looked at the screen and instantly turned to look at Hongjoong—who was no where to be seen and who had most definitely alluded capture and fled the apartment when Yunho was slumbering.

He answered the call, San saying gently in his ear, “Good morning, Yunho-hyung. Did you by chance misplace something?”

Yunho was standing and getting his shoes on, tossing the throw blanket back onto the couch as he muttered, “Mayhaps I did, Sannie. What, uh, what would lead you to that conclusion?” He grabbed for his keys from his pocket and cursed when he realized they weren’t there.

“Well, a certain car is in the staff parking and I haven’t opened up the Centre yet, so…”

Yunho twisted and grabbed his keys from behind the TV where he had forgotten he’d placed them the night before, “He did not, did he?”

“He has, so, if you wouldn’t mind coming to work and escorting our boss out, I’d appreciate it. Hugs and kisses!” San said with a venomous kindness in his tone.

Yunho hummed and hung up, grabbing the only other pair of apartment keys and closing the door behind him. He locked it and ran down the stairs of the apartment, getting to his soccer-mom van and driving to the Centre.

When he got there, there was San’s car and Hongjoong’s car sitting side by side in the spaces closest to the visitor’s parking and therefore closest to the employee entrance.

He pulled into the space next to San’s and got out, slamming the door closed behind him and locking his van as he walked to the door, scanned his keycard, and rushed down the hallway.

Yunho could hear voices already, and was absolutely not looking forward to whatever scene awaited him when he walked in. He opened the door to the Pool Room and breathed in the scent of salt water and distinctly fishy smell, and then opened his eyes and met the exasperated stare of San, a smug looking Hongjoong, and Wooyoung and Yeosang and Mingi all watching from their respective pools as whatever had been happening happened.

Yunho approached Hongjoong, ignoring Mingi’s warm and welcoming chirp in favor of give the short man an appropriately fed-up glare, “Hongjoong—“

The man held up a finger, saying confidently, “I know what you are going to say and I know you are mad at me but, hear me out, I have a reason!”

San scoffed, “Yeah, like reopening the stab wound in your leg?!”

Hongjoong stuck out his tongue as Yunho said evenly, “Sure, whatever reason could you have for ignoring the doctor’s ‘take it easy’ he’d told you to abide by?”

The blue-haired man hummed and said with a smirked, “Now, I know that sounds bad, but I needed to check in on everyone!”

Yunho inhaled and San cut him off, “Ain’t no way you’re justifying risking your health by saying you missed the Merpeople.”

Hongjoong blinked, once and then twice, and grinned widely, “That is exactly what I’m saying, Sannie. They need me, don’t you Wooyoung?”

Wooyoung glanced between the humans, surprised by being suddenly being involved, “Like Hongjoong, yes… Hongjoong hurt and should be careful—“

The short man gently hushed him, “Thank you, Wooyoung. Now, what possibly could have gone wrong, guys. It’s not like I jumped in the pools or anything.”

San sighed, “Uh, weren’t you trying to find a new wetsuit when I—“

Yunho groaned, “Nope. Nope. Hongjoong, you are going back to your apartment.”

Hongjoong whined, “I haven’t seen them in a week, can’t you cut me some slack?”

“We’ll cut you slack when you can make mature choices for your health, Hongjoong-hyung,” Yunho retorted, gesturing at the doors behind himself.

Hongjoong sighed, lowering his head and taking a deep breath, “But I haven’t seen the newest Mer yet, can I please—“

“Bro, literally, what in God’s green earth made you think it’s a good idea to do that?” San asked incredulously.”

Hongjoong looked up, glaring at the two of them, “I am in charge, I am going to check in on the newest patient because I pay the majority of the bills in this place and you two have to listen to me because I said so.”

Yunho glanced at San, before saying sharply, “Fine. 5 minutes and then you gotta go home, dude.”

Hongjoong huffed, “Thank you.”

Yunho followed the shorter man to the back of the room, looking into the quarantine pool that had caused so much pain the week prior.

Inside, the Mer was quiet and still, staring up at Yunho with an emotionless expression. It was only when they noticed Hongjoong that their expression morphed into something close to despair and guilt.

Hongjoong smiled politely, bowing his head, “Hey, bud. How’s that arm feeling?”

The Mer looked back, not understanding the words and simply humming in recognition that the man had spoken to them.

Yunho was about to say something, anything, when suddenly San was yelling and Wooyoung was pulling himself out of his pool and towards the quarantine pool with a panicked expression and fearful cries echoing in the once-silent room.

The chilling thing wasn’t the Mer dragging himself towards them, it was the words he was screaming.

“Kill! He kill! Stop, stop! He killed! Dangerous! Stop!”

Chapter Text

He hated the sound of his merfolk struggling in any way. Whether it was strained breathing, whimpers of pain, or the sound of their skin or scales dragging against the concrete, it all brought his agony. Those were the Mer he was entrusted to protect and if they were in pain he was failing his promise.

So, turning around and watching Wooyoung pulling himself across the floor towards them with a crazed expression and screeching that they were in danger, it broke Hongjoong’s heart and also put him on edge. He trusted this Mer and if he thought there was danger then Hongjoong had all reason to believe there was indeed danger.

Quickly, he and Yunho were racing towards the Mer with hands raised placatingly and urging him to calm. Hongjoong knelt in front of the frenzied Ocean Mer and soothed calmly, “Hey, hey, it’s alright. It’s okay.”

Wooyoung shook his head violently, fins flaring and hands scrambling for purchase in Hongjoong’s shirt. The man clenched his jaw as strong hands pressed into healing bruises, reaching up and cupping the Mer’s face. Wooyoung whistled stress and concern, saying sharply, “Danger! Danger! Bad Mer. BAD MER!”

Hongjoong hummed, trying to replicate a reassuring croon, petting the Mer’s face and neck, “I’m okay. They aren’t bad. I’m okay, Wooyoung. Don’t worry! Look, I’m not bleeding, I’m all okay.”

Wooyoung shook his head fiercely. “Bad Mer, Hongjoong die—HONGJOONG DIE!” Wooyoung shrieked, drawing growls and groans from Yeosang and Mingi, who were watching with ears pinned but eyes wide and fins relaxed. They didn’t… they clearly didn’t believe there was any such danger.

Hongjoong rubbed Wooyoung’s shoulder and gently massaged his hands so they’d release their vice-like grip on his torso, “Wooyoung, I’m not dead. I won’t die. I’m okay. What’s gotten you so upset, bud? What’s wrong?”

“Bad, bad… evil Mer! Evil Mer! Killed! Killer! Evil Mer kill pod. Evil Mer!” Wooyoung pressed, head lowering to press into the man’s chest. These weren’t only words, the Ocean Mer was quite literally shaking in fear.

San knelt down and gathering Wooyoung’s torso in his arms, dragging him off of Hongjoong, “This can be taken care of when you are safe.”

Wooyoung writhed, baring his teeth and claws grasping San’s protective vest, “Danger! Danger! Danger! Evil Mer!”

Hongjoong followed San closely as Yunho grabbed Wooyoung’s tail and helped deliver the beached Mer back into his pool. “There is no danger, Wooyoung. What is scaring you?”

The Mer whined, San gently leaning down and releasing the Mer’s torso. Wooyoung growled and groaned, whining fear and frustration as he pulled himself back into the pool where Yeosang had waited quietly.

The moment Wooyoung slipped into the water, Yeosang was at the edge of the pool staring intensely at Hongjoong.

He frowned. There was something bothering Wooyoung to the point he was willing to drag himself halfway to the quarantine pool. There was something that Yeosang and Mingi hadn’t been worried about, but Wooyoung was driving himself mad with the need to protect his human friends.

Hongjoong sighed and knelt down in front of the pool, bowing his head to Yeosang. The Reef Mer crooned calmly, thinking hard before saying, “Wooyoung wrong… Hongjoong safe.”

“Why is Wooyoung wrong? What’s up with him?”

Yeosang opened his mouth to respond when Wooyoung shoved him away and looked Hongjoong in the eyes, “Mer bad, you die. Mer killed pod! Mer kill this pod. Mer bad.”

Yeosang twisted, instantly body-slamming Wooyoung away and snarling, “Mer no bad. Wooyoung wrong!”

Hongjoong held up his hands, “Both of you, chill. I’m going to check on the new Mer, you cannot stop me. Can you please explain, one at a time, what the Mer is so bad for?”

Yeosang flaring his fins in Wooyoung’s direction and turn to look back at the man, saying simply, “Wooyoung dumb. Wooyoung believes… believes…. Uh, Wooyoung believes story.”

The Ocean Mer growled loudly, baring his teeth, “Not story, idiot. Truth! That Mer killed pod. They killed pod and will kill calves who are stupid. All Matriarch tell this.”

Hongjoong nodded. Wooyoung was essentially saying that the new Mer they had was a serial killer and baby murderer. Simple enough. But Yeosang said it was a story, so it may have been a myth that their Matriarchs told them, “Yeosang, you aren’t scared?”

The Reef Mer scoffed, “Never scared. Wooyoung silly.”

“No I am not!! Not silly!”

Hongjoong hummed, instantly getting their attention, “Whoever that Mer is, they need help. We can’t know for sure unless they tell us, right?”

Wooyoung shook his head, “Hongjoong will die. Stupid, stupid.”

Hongjoong huffed, “Yeah, yeah. How about this? I have Sannie open the gate, you can watch me say hi to the Mer and thats it. Will that be okay?”

The Ocean Mer paused, scowling into the middle distance. He clenched his jaw and growled, and then looked at Hongjoong and hissed, “Fine! Fine! That okay.”

Hongjoong sighed, going to stand when his thigh cramped in protest and he nearly went tipping forward into the pool. Yunho yelped as Yeosang lunged for him, the Reef Mer supporting him as the taller man helped him lean back. Yeosang whined in concern and sniffed the air, looking at Hongjoong’s thigh nervously.

Hongjoong shook his head, “I’m fine, guys. I’m fine. Chill.”

San snorted, “Yeah, falling head first into the pool is fine.”

“Just open the gate, dude.”

San opened the gate as Yunho helped Hongjoong to stand, whispering, “Your five minutes are almost up, hyung. Im serious about getting you home.”

Hongjoong nodded and then marched back to the quarantine pool, where the Mer glanced up at him with those wide, sad eyes. He didn’t understand. How could an individual with this poor health and fragile mental state kill their entire pod?

Mer were notorious for not accepting senseless violence, and if this individual had lashed out they surely would have gotten overpowered given how physically weak they were. Their loneliness is definitely damning evidence of something, but what that thing was didn’t necessarily have to be the murder of their pod.

That being said, they were doing better than they were the previous week, with ribs slightly filled in and their movements more stable. They seemed present instead of lost in their head.

The Mer twisted suddenly, looking at the gate of the pool, staring at the shape of Yeosang and Wooyoung who were watching closely. Well, Wooyoung was watching closely, Yeosang was making himself comfortable on the floor of the channel and seemingly preparing to take a nap.

Hongjoong knelt down, putting a hand on the concrete to support himself; the other hand splashed the water gently.

The Mer hummed quietly; San saying, “His name is Seonghwa. Did we forget to tell you Yeosang got his name?”

Hongjoong turned slowly, taking a deep breath, “Yep. You did forget to tell me. Better late than never, though. Thanks, Sannie.”

Hongjoong looked back to the pool where the Mer— where Seonghwa had moved closer, watching with a nervous twitch of his tail. Seonghwa. A good name. Hopefully a good name for a good mer.

Seonghwa swam closer, grumbling when Wooyoung let out a protective growl. The new Mer didn’t seem very perturbed by the resident’s behaviour. Maybe a bit uncomfortable but not enough to put him on edge about Wooyoung’s presence.

Hongjoong splashed the surface again, getting the Mer’s attention. Seonghwa glanced up at him before breaching the surface out of reach. Hongjoong hummed a pleased noise, bowing his head and saying gently, “Hey, bud. How is your arm treating you?” To help, he emphasised his own arm and then looked at Seonghwa’s arm pointedly.

Seonghwa blinked, bringing his arm up slowly and copying Hongjoong’s posture. He looked confused, rightly so, but they were getting somewhere.

“You hurt me last week but I’m doing better, I’m not mad at all.” Hongjoong said.

Seonghwa huffed and then let out a thoughtful croon, ears flicking back and forth a couple times. That was… a new behaviour. Usually their residents ears were used to display big emotions: pinning back in fear or anger, perking up when happy or interest. This individual using their ears as communication other than big emotions was different.

Hongjoong cleared his throat when he realized he was staring, “Yunho, would you mind getting a couple of fish for me? Gonna see if he’s comfortable taking food from my hand.”

“Hand-feeding? Already? You are literally leaving in a minute, you have no time.” Yunho retorted.

Hongjoong sent him a glare, “Yea, yeah. I know. Get me the fish, Yunho, or I’ll shove you into Mingi’s pool.”

Yunho snorted, going to grab the fish while saying, “You say that like it’s a threat.”

Hongjoong shook his head with a sigh, looking back at Seonghwa, who was now within arm length and staring intently at the man with large eyes. “Hey, Hwa. What’s up?”

Seonghwa’s gills fluttered, ears twitching and his head spines flared and relaxed slowly. He was quiet, though, and seemed to be examining Hongjoong up and down. Hongjoong bowed his head again, humming quietly in a mimicry of Yeosang’s calm inquisitive noises he’d make when seeing a crab or new fish. Interest, thats what this noise communicated.

Seonghwa blinked when Hongjoong looked back up, brows furrowed and a look of immense confusion on his face.

Yunho stepped back and offered Hongjoong a couple fish, “These satisfy you, oh wise one?”

“Yes, it does.” Hongjoong snatched the fish away and looked back at Seonghwa, who was giving Yunho a tiny glare. “So, Seonghwa, do you want a fish?”

The Mer looked at him, inhaled, and lunged forward to the sound of Wooyoung’s sharp cry and Yunho’s yelp.

Chapter Text

Seonghwa watched the Landfolk from his spot at the bottom of this enclosed alcove. Was it an alcove? It was like a tide-pool or something, but the water never went low and there weren’t any fish or crabs or anything. He exhaled, blinking and focusing at the face separated by the surface.

The Landfolk was back, after some time, with tense muscles and a twitch to their brow that conveyed their pain as a smile tried to hide it. They splashed the water gently, and days ago he’d have obeyed willingly. Now, he watched and waited for the Landfolk to reveal their true intent.

A swish and quiet growl startled him from his watching and he couldn’t help the quick turn that brought aches into his muscle. He stared at the weird rock with holes separating him from the two that sat outside his alcove.

Yeosang, his Challenger, his little eel, lounged against the ground with stomach bared and eyes closed. The other Mer was, if he remembered correctly from what the other Mer, Mingi, had said, Wooyoung. Wooyoung stared at him with wide eyes and fluttering gills and twitching claws.

Seonghwa blinked, ear flicking when he heard the Landfolk splash the surface again. He hummed a greeting to these Mer and hummed as he turned and swam close to the edge of the alcove. Wooyoung, the Ocean Mer, let out a deep, aggressive growl that sent Seonghwa’s heart racing. He replied with an apathetic hum, glancing at the Mer with an exasperated expression.

The Landfolk splashed again and so Seonghwa lifted his head above the surface and levelled them with a wide eyed expression.

This weird individual bowed their head, Seonghwa’s brow furrowing. He was oddly accustomed to Merfolk greetings and respect and it only made him more skeptical. They then, with terrible intonation, attempted a hum. Seonghwa huffed nervously.

This individual was acting like a Mer while looking every part a Landfolk.

He decidedly didn’t like it.

The Landfolk chirped in its language, bringing up one of its arms and staring intently at Seonghwa’s arm that had the weird contraption strapped on. It moved its arm, holding it like Seonghwa was and raised it expectantly

Seonghwa was flabbergasted. This blue haired Landfolk was attempting to communicate. After all the things Landfolk had done to his pod they were treating him like this. Seonghwa furrowed his brow and flared his head fins momentarily, bring his arm up to mirror the Landfolk.

The Landfolk seemed to brighten at that, expressing something in its language with soft tones and apologetic stresses to their words. Their body language was softer now, and their facial features had eased the tension. Though, their leg trembled, the one he had pierced.

Seonghwa huffed acknowledgement and apologies of his own, ears flicking back and forth in recognition and quiet guilt.

The Landfolk watched him for a few moments, mouth hanging open. Seonghwa stared back, frowning. This was weird. This was like being a fish under the claws of a crab, being inspected before consumption.

They made a noise in their throat, then looked at their taller companion. That one had made his ears hurt, but… he had attacked this smaller one so it was deserved, he supposed. The taller one stepped away, chattering back and forth with the blue haired one.

Seonghwa moved forward, looking at the blue haired Landfolk closer now. They were favouring their uninjured leg and holding a hand on their chest, perhaps without even realizing it. They looked back at him, all smiles and relaxed now.

They were like a gray calf exploring a new pod with wide eyes and excited tail flicks. They were seemingly enraptured in the fact that Seonghwa had gotten closer. Again, they hummed and bowed their head, this time a noise of intrigue and curiosity.

How this Landfolk had learned all this was wild, and considering they didn’t have any hesitation implied they had been around Mer for a long time…. Maybe the other Mer had taught this individual. That would take several winters though. These Mer had… they had been here for a long time, then?

Their taller companion appeared again and Seonghwa couldn’t suppress the flinch. He bared his teeth momentarily in their direction as they gave the Landfolk some—

This Landfolk now had food. Fish. Large fish.

The blue haired Landfolk turned back, eyes warm. They held one of the fish out and Seonghwa took a large inhale through his gills and propelled himself out of the water.

Wooyoung made a noise of pain or fear, shrieking as the taller Landfolk moved forward.

Seonghwa ignored them, his body pinning the blue haired Landfolk to the ground as his jaws closed around the fish in their grip. He propped himself up with his good arm as he threw his head back to swallow the fish whole. He growled at the tall Landfolk, who had dared to step closer and closer until they were nearly touching him.

Seonghwa looked at the blue-haired Landfolk, lowering his head and sniffing at their hands. They trembled in fear, eyes wide and glazed over. They made tiny noises in their throat, Seonghwa leaning closer and licking the fish scent off their hands. He hissed at the taste of Landfolk and shook his head.

When he looked up, the other Landfolk with dark hair and a slight limp, the one that had hurt their leg, was kneeling close with hands up and eyes firmly meeting his gaze. Seonghwa huffed an exhale, before clocking the smell of blood in a wave of horror.

He looked around, worry high in his throat as he chirped intrigue.

He followed the scent to the blue-haired Landfolk’s leg and pushed himself off the Landfolk, using careful teeth to move the Landfolk onto their stomach and get a closer look at the weird second skin covering the wound.

Seonghwa was about to bite the rough material to expose to injury beneath when the blue-haired Landfolk was dragged away by the dark-haired individual. His claws swung forward, catching the material and wrapping tightly around the ankle.

He bared his teeth and snarled, “Unhand! Inspecting the wound. I am healing!”

The Landfolk didn’t understand, only hearing his guttural noise and panicking.

The tall Landfolk stepped forward and, using a smaller rod of shiny rock, shoved at Seonghwa’s chest. He looked at the Landfolk, down at the rock, and then grabbed the rod of rock in his jaws and shattered it. All the Landfolk went still, and the noises of the Mer watching from outside the alcove silenced.

Seonghwa spat out the pieces of rock, ignoring the taste of his own blood on his tongue, focusing back on the blue-haired Landfolk and baring his throat.

The dark haired individual made guttural noises back, kicking at Seonghwa’s hand enclosed around their companion. Seonghwa crooned, this time pressing calm and safety into his vocalizations as he pulled himself forward and closing the distance easily.

The Landfolk were getting more and more nervous, their fear stinking the air and clouding his sense of smell. They squeaked quickly and feverishly, the small one in Seonghwa’s grip shaking from their terror. Seonghwa crooned again, grabbing their shoulder and pinning them again as their companions tried to scare him away. He ignored them, teeth softly ripping away a small section of the material covering their leg.

He made a groan when he realized there was yet another layer covering the wound, this time being a pale colour soaked through with a bit of blood. He gently manoeuvred his teeth into the folds of the material and pulled away, the material ripping and the Landfolk beneath him whining in fear and making crying, sobbing sounds.

Seonghwa blinked, before removing the rest of the pale material and finally seeing injury, which had a hint of infection mixed in the smell of blood and flesh.

He sniffed, hand pinning their ankle moving and gripping their knee and the hand holding their shoulder moving to prod the wound. The Landfolk kicked and writhed, the other two grabbing at Seonghwa’s arms to try and stop him. Their attempts were futile, and Seonghwa didn’t quite understand the instinct that told him to care for this individual, but all rational thought had been blanketed by a layer of haze that instructed him to move without him truly thinking.

Seonghwa’s hands gripped either side of the wound, pressing the flesh tightly, the Landfolk letting out a scream of pain. His ears pinned back, trying to ignore the sound as he squeezed the injury.

From the wound came a yellowish fluid that mixed with fresh blood. Infection, his brain supplied. This was from the infection.

Seeing that was enough to boot his instincts and reassert his rational thinking in control. He shook his head, finally taking in the desperate forms of the two Landfolk companions and the  shaking, agonized form of the blue-haired Landfolk.

He blinked, shaking his head again and releasing the injured Landfolk from his grip. The dark haired individual leapt for them, pulling them away and holding them close as their body shivered in shock. The tall Landfolk shoved Seonghwa back, and the Mer let them, pushing back and falling back into the water.

They may have not known that there was decay inside the Landfolk’s leg, but he did. Perhaps one day they’d forgive him, but for now he was doing his best to show he felt guilty and was now trying to help the very species that brought him unimaginable grief.

Seonghwa shook his claws in the water, getting the blood and scent off as the two Mer outside of his alcove watched. Wooyoung snarled, eyes glazed in his own instincts, “You hurt him! You hurt Hongjoong! You hurt him!”

Seonghwa bared his throat, “I saved him. He would have died.”

“He wouldn’t have died! The Landfolk have herbs that are helpful! He didn’t need you, you MONSTER!” Wooyoung growled back, slamming his claws against the rock that separated them.

Seonghwa’s ears pinned back, “Monster? Monster!?”

Yeosang swept forward, bodying Wooyoung out of the way and bowing his head, “You are no monster, Challenger Seonghwa. Wooyoung believes his Matriarch.”

“Believes his Matriarch about what? Why am I a monster?” Seonghwa’s gills fluttered.

Wooyoung shoved Yeosang out of the way, “You killed your pod! I know the truth! You eat calves! You hunt pods! You are a monster! You deserve to be killed by the Landfolk!”

“Wooyoung! For the Light, shut yourself up!” Yeosang growled loudly, slamming his tail against the Ocean Mer’s side.

Seonghwa couldn’t hear them, though. He was too focused on the anger and terror in Wooyoung’s eyes and the words echoing in his mind: You killed your pod .

Chapter Text

He’d been about to start on Mingi’s recall training, bucket of fish in hand and the resignation of a day of work settling into his bones when he heard Yunho yell in his ‘everything’s going to shit’ tone, “ Hongjoong !”

San closed his eyes as his heart-rate skyrocketed, willing himself a moment of peace before opening his eyes and looking towards the quarantine pool where his friends should have been standing without any panic or worry.

Instead, Hongjoong was on the ground, eyes wild in animalistic fear as Seonghwa, who had pulled himself onto the edge of the pool and was now pinning the small man beneath himself, jaws closed around the fish that Yunho had grabbed for Hongjoong just moments before. It was surreal that this pale pink and white Mer that barely larger than Wooyoung and Yeosang was now mantled over his friend like a vulture with a carcass. Large brown eyes with flecks of gold stared at the human pinned beneath his weight, Seonghwa swallowing the fish whole and leaning closer and closer to Hongjoong’s hands that were clasped to his chest as if they’d provide some sort of defence against razor sharp claws.

San was moving before his legs registered the thudding sensation of floor beneath his feet, his brain racing when he realized that Hongjoong hadn’t put on a protective vest when he’d snuck in. Yunho hovered, shaking with what was probably a chaotic mix of adrenaline and fear, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to speak but all ability to create words had been ripped away the moment Hongjoong had been pinned by the Mer. Seonghwa leaned down and began to lick the remnants of fish off of Hongjoong’s hand, the sight of serrated teeth not even an inch away sending shivers down San’s spine.

Finally, his words caught up to him and he said to Yunho, “Grab the pole, the one without the net attachment. We can, we can push him off or something.”

Hongjoong was beginning to cry now, whispering hurriedly as Yunho raced away, “Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please—“

San knelt down as close as he dared, raising his hands to show he was unarmed when the Mer looked at him with a piercing, predatory glint in his eyes, “Hey, Seonghwa, you gotta get off of Hongjoong. He’s very scared and he’s already in pain. You gotta move off of him.”

Seonghwa regarded him, before his nostrils suddenly flared and his head raised suddenly and violently like a meerkat who sensed danger. His pupils went wide, a hazy look covering what was once calculating and thoughtful. San opened his mouth, leaning forward and about to ask Seonghwa to move off when the Mer exhaled a long sighing chirp, sound clicking on the tail end of the vocalization as high pitched with interest and curiosity.

San flinched back when Seonghwa moved, pushing himself away from Hongjoong’s chest and getting horrifying close to the man’s injured leg. Suddenly, Seonghwa was using his teeth and claws to turn Hongjoong onto his stomach, the man locking eyes with San and weeping openly.

San grabbed Hongjoong’s now outstretched hands, squeezing reassuringly as he said, “We’re going to get you to safety, keep breathing, Hongjoong.”

“Please, please, please, please, please —“ was all Hongjoong said in reply, lost to the panic that shook his body and made his eyes unfocused and desperate.

Behind, Seonghwa was leaning closer to the fabric over the bandages of Hongjoong’s leg, teeth suddenly bared and approaching at a terrifying pace. San grabbed Hongjoong’s wrists and stood, pulling with all his might to use the surprise to his advantage and potentially get Hongjoong away from the Mer.

Seonghwa was faster, hand encircled around Hongjoong’s ankle in the blink of an eye, head raising and head spines flaring. His ears pinned back and he hissed, much like an angry cat would. He then began vocalizing, saying something he’d never understand but the tone threatened possessiveness and anger and all San could do was stare back and say, “You cannot have him! Let go!”

Yunho ran into view with the steel pole they would use to confuse Mer like they had the week prior. Seonghwa looked at Yunho, a knowing flash going through those unfocused eyes, the moment the pole connected with the Mer’s chest he was biting it and ripping it from Yunho’s hands, glaring with the fury of a thousand suns. San opened his mouth, about to protest when he realized what was going to happen, but was too slow.

Seonghwa shattered the piece of metal like it was a twig, growl building low in his throat as Yunho and San froze.

That… should’ve been impossible. That should have been their strongest tool. And now the remnants had fallen on either side of Seonghwa, who spat out blood-covered shards.

San shook himself out of his stunned silence as Seonghwa bared his throat towards Hongjoong. San stood, saying firmly, “Seonghwa, you can’t have him. You can’t.” He  stepped as close as he dared, within snatching distance of this creature, and kicked at the hand gripping Hongjoong’s ankle.

This had an adverse effect, the mer pulling himself further onto land and laying his stomach over Hongjoong’s legs as Seonghwa crooned like Mingi would when they were stressed out. Such a reassuring sound coming from what was a mer currently acting possessive over their friend was disturbing and sickening. San couldn’t help the tears that sprung in his eyes.

They weren’t ready for this situation. They weren’t ready.

Yunho looked at San, saying, “What can we even do?!”

“Tranq-ing him would be a good idea but without Jongho we don’t know how much to administer and he just ignores us whenever he try to push him off—“

“There has to be something, anything!” Yunho insisted.

Hongjoong was almost unresponsive now, not from any sort of injury or bloodloss, but simply from pure animalistic terror rendering him completely useless as he was limp in Seonghwa’s grip.

Seonghwa placed a hand onto Hongjoong’s shoulder, causing both San and Yunho to begin trying to push the Mer off, ignoring their own safety now that it was clear the Mer had other plans. Seonghwa didn’t react, just ripping off a section of pant leg while crooning again.

This revealed a blood-soaked bandage and it sent San’s head spinning.

Of course the Mer could smell it. Of course. That’s what drove them into this stupor. But they still couldn’t know if it was violent or not, Seonghwa was too distracted to give any sort of sign. San grabbed Seonghwa’s arm and tried lifting it from Hongjoong, which proved fruitless.

Seonghwa leaned down again, this time biting into the bandage and throwing his head back, ripping the bandage off like it was tissue paper. Hongjoong began sobbing violently now, hands scrambling for purchase on San’s thigh as he continued his desperate pleas. San pushed Seonghwa’s arm again and almost thought he’d done something when he realized that Seonghwa was just repositioning himself over the injury in Hongjoong’s thigh. The hand that had pinned the man’s shoulder now gripped his upper thigh tightly and the hand that had been wrapped around ankle moved to grip the man’s knee.

Yunho shoved with his entire weight, only moving Seonghwa an inch or two as the Mer repositioned the hand on Hongjoong’s knee to hold his lower thigh.

San stared, freezing as he realized the Mer was now gripping either side of the stab wound.

Seonghwa sniffed again, and suddenly squeezed the injury like a teenager squeezing a pimple. Hongjoong’s back arched, his body trembling as he screamed in uncontrollable agony. San leaned over and held Hongjoong in a hug, realizing he could finally give comfort to the man who had been trapped like an animal in a bear trap.

Yunho gagged from the smell that poured from the leg wound, and San buried his nose into Hongjoong’s shoulder, watching as Seonghwa stared at the puss coming from the wound. The Mer’s pupils constricted and focused again, shaking his head and exhaling with a satisfied hum. The moment he pushed himself away, San was dragging Hongjoong away and holding the smaller man to his chest, stroking up and down his back firmly. The trembling was weakening and from the man going limp, San assumed Hongjoong had finally, thankfully, pass out from the pain.

Yunho shoved Seonghwa back into the water, the Mer going willingly. The moment the water stilled, Yunho was kneeling at San’s side and placing a hand gingerly over Hongjoong’s leg, inspecting the gruesome sight with a clenched jaw.

From the pool came the sound of Wooyoung and Yeosang growling and snarling with increasing intensity, Seonghwa replying with quiet chirps and trills that seemed violently uncharacteristic considering the Mer had just spent about 3 minutes terrifying them.

San shushed Hongjoong as Yunho said, “I think, I’m gonna pull the car around to the bay door, we should get him to the hospital again.”

“I agree, Jongho should be here in,” he checked the clock on the wall next to the hallway entrance, “20 minutes. I’ll fill him in.”

Yunho nodded and raced out, shoving out of the emergency exit and disappearing as the door closed.

San rocked himself from side to side as Hongjoong’s eyes fluttered open, red with tears and still hazy with adrenaline and pain. “It’s alright, hyung. It’s alright now. You aren’t in any more danger. I’ve got you,” San reassured softly, rubbing the man’s back softly now that he was waking up again. He was wearing a protective vest so he couldn’t feel Hongjoong’s heart rate but just by brushing against the man’s neck he could feel a racing pulse that only concerned him further.

Hongjoong was starting to still, the trembling easing as his body began settling into shock. San shushed the man even though he made no noise, looking up when the bay door opened and Yunho ran back in.

San stood, lifting Hongjoong as he went. The man was light, with a bit of muscle from working with the Mer, but easy enough to carry on his own. Hongjoong flinch as San tripped on his way to the bay door, Yunho saying gently, “Breathe, Hongjoong. Breathe, we’ve got you. You’re okay.”

San laid Hongjoong down in the back of the soccer mom van that Yunho drove, grabbing one of the Mer-themed blankets and tucking them around Hongjoong and buckling two of the seatbelts over the lying form of his friend. He squeezed Hongjoong’s shoulder as Yunho jumped into the driver’s sear. “You’ll be okay, hyung. Breathe. You’re gonna be okay.”

Maybe he imagined it, but glassy eyes landed on him and there was a twitch that was too close to a nod to not be a nod.

San smiled tightly and closed the door, Yunho taking off down the staff parking.

This was the second time in two weeks.

Second time that Seonghwa lashed out at Hongjoong.

The second time that Hongjoong was hurting because of this new patient.

Despite the progress they were making, it felt like they were only taking three steps back every time Hongjoong got involved with the Mer.

He’d have to speak to Maddox and Eden even if they were abroad for a Mer Right’s project. They’d know what to do.

San turned, walking into the pool room and closinng the bay door behind him. He looked down at his hands, trembling despite his best attempt to stop them.

Maybe… maybe this was the one time they should just let nature take its course with a Mer…

Maybe… this time, Seonghwa would be the one Mer who would benefit from never coming in contact with Hongjoong again.

Chapter Text

Yeosang knew, for all intents and purposes, that it was not a good idea for any of them to be in this situation.

He knew the moment Wooyoung’s distress calls tore through the water and reverberated off the walls of the channel and quarantine pool. He knew when Yunho and San began yelling and when Hongjoong began sobbing like a lost calf. He knew when Seonghwa’s scent turned into something muddied and unclear.

He knew when the scent of blood and infection reached his nose that none of them had prepared or even planned for a situation like this.

And this wasn’t to say that Seonghwa was an outlier or dangerous, even though he was.

This was simply a matter of the inability to communicate and the inability to understand.

Beside Wooyoung, pressed against the wall of the channel, he could barely sense his place in the water, not to mention the numb of feeling replacing any control he’d had. He was unable to move, vocalize, could barely even think as the world spun with the sound of his partner’s fear.

It was only a few minutes of this mess but it stretched and dragged against him like a net, capturing his attention and breath all in one as Wooyoung’s distressed and frightened cries turned into focused angry growls and possessive snarls.

As the ringing in his head dissipated, he righted himself from where he’d been floating aimlessly and looked towards the quarantine pool. His head was still spinning, his stomach clenched and tight in his abdomen as he trembled. He needed to get a grip on himself but every instinct said to flee. Every moment was another overbearing need to escape.

A growl grew in his throat unbidden, his discomfort drawing the sound from his chest against all conscious thought. He hated this. He hated being out of control. He hated being weak when Wooyoung needed him. He shook himself again, head still feeling as though he were being crushed. His vision was blurry but he could see Wooyoung, the gate, and Seonghwa hovering on the other side with wide eyes and a distinct expression of loss.

Yeosang’s hearing cleared enough for a muffled sentence to reach him from his partner, “—need you, you MONSTER!”

The shape of Seonghwa seemed to deflate, ears pinning back tightly, “Monster? Monster!?”

Yeosang pushed forward, moving Wooyoung away without knowing his own strength, head bowing on instinct, “Y-You are not monster, Challenger Seonghwa.” He swallowed hard, ignoring the shake in his voice, “Wooyoung believes his Matriarch.”

Seonghwa met his gaze, visible concern etched in his face, “Believes his Matriarch about what? Why am I a monster?”

Oh Light, he didn’t even know about the stories?!

Before he had time to respond, Wooyoung was shoving him back, claws brandished in front of him and eyes wide and crazed, “You killed your pod! I know the truth! You eat calves! You hunt pods! You are a monster! You deserve to be killed by the Landfolk!”

Yeosang watched in slow motion as Seonghwa’s face fell, the features coming into focus as his vision cleared sluggishly. The Mer was shaking, whether from the energy he’d exerted or the new information Yeosang didn’t know. Seonghwa had no idea. Seonghwa had no idea and that only made Yeosang’s heart tighten. He growled loudly, the sound echoing in the channel and filling his ears as he twisted and slammed into Wooyoung’s side with his tail aiming to get his partner’s attention, “Wooyoung! For the Light, shut yourself up!”

Wooyoung turned on Yeosang, teeth baring and fins stiff as his body shook with painfully obvious fear, “He’s a monster! He’s a killer!? How can you find sympathy for a creature only made of rage and blood-thirst?!”

Yeosang spread his claws, baring his throat to his partner, “I know, I know. Wooyoung, Light, I know! But have you stopped and maybe asked Seonghwa for yourself?! Have you thought to confirm the sins of this Mer before condemning him?!”

Wooyoung hissed, long and low, “You would let a murderer have the comfort of sympathy?! Where is the Mer I courted?! Where have you gone and discovered a benevolent temper for a being that has no care for life?!”

Yeosang’s ears pinned and he snarled in return, “I’m right here, Wooyoung. And I know you are scared. I know every story you were told has made you the Mer you are today, but have you thought to look at my Challenger and see them for themself and not the legends that surround them?!”

Wooyoung glared, hissing quietly, “You think they are just stories?! You think the very thing that kept my Pod alive, our Matriarch and her Matriarch’s lives, you think they mean nothing!?”

“Wooyoung, no—“

The Ocean Mer seemed to swell with rage, “You and the Reef Mer you descend from may not find value in the tales passed down from Matriarch to Matriarch but it is how my Pod survived, it is how I survive. You can’t ignore my feelings for this stranger you don’t even know. You can’t validate yourself in the distress of your Challenger.”

Yeosang felt heat in his eyes and tears prickle at the corners, “Wooyoung, I know you are afraid, but have you thought that, maybe, all the stories may not be true? That sometimes we say things to make our intent law within a Pod?”

Wooyoung stared back, unwavering eye contact and flaring gills, “I cannot believe you, Yeosang—“

In an instant, a large hand reached through the gate and grasped Wooyoung’s shoulder, claws scented with the blood of their Landfolk pod member.

The Ocean Mer flinched violently and what was once agitation and frustration became primal fear.

Seonghwa stared at Wooyoung with red-rimmed eyes and a haunted look on his face, not quite focusing on the Mer in his grasp and instead of something far behind them. The Mer trembled violently, gills spasming as breaths struggled to filter in, “W-what… what you do you mean? What stories?! Light’s will, please, why am I a monster in those stories?! I don’t-I don’t understand.”

Wooyoung bared his teeth, ears flicking momentarily, “You killed your pod. You are a monster because you killed your pod and seek out more prey. You are a monster because you have no love, no sympathy, no morals. You are a monster and you killed your pod.”

Seonghwa’s eyes were glassy, losing focus the longer Yeosang watched. It was like telling a Matriarch her calf had passed. It was like finding the corpses of two Mer caught in a Landfolk net. It was true agony and it was a grief Yeosang been lucky to avoid.

Wooyoung blinked, voice shaking, “Do you… did you not…?”

Seonghwa released his grip, hand receding back and grabbing his own chest. “They—You—They think…? They think I kil—“ Seonghwa brought his hands before his eyes, staring at curved claws like they held the answers he was searching for.

Yeosang placed a hand on Wooyoung’s shoulder, frowning deeply. Wooyoung looked back, a distraught expression on his face, “Did he… but he…”

Seonghwa looked at Yeosang and Wooyoung, “I’m… I’m sorry… but I think you are mistaken… I’m—they—they’re…”

Yeosang lowered his head, “No, no… I’m sorry—“

“My Matriarch lied?” Wooyoung’s voice was barely audible, his tone broken.

Seonghwa drew in a ragged breath, gills moving disjointed and uncoordinated, “You—They’re dead. They died. They’re dead. They’re dead.” He grabbed his head, sharp claws drawing minuscule clouds of blood in the water, “I didn’t. I didn’t! They-They died because of Landfolk. The Landfolk killed them. I didn’t, I didn’t—“

Wooyoung rushed past Yeosang, back towards their home pool as a thick scent of fear filled the water in his wake.

Yeosang glanced back and watched him disappear around the corner.

He turned back and watched as Seonghwa’s claws twitched, his eyes seeing something Yeosang couldn’t.

This… had gone so much worse than he expected.

By the time he returned to their home pool, Jongho had arrived. By the time he returned, Wooyoung was curled up on the Landfolk’s submerged platform sobbing into San’s arms.

Yeosang surfaced quietly, expressionless and unable to look away from the broken form of his partner.

By the time he returned he’d already seen his Challenger break down, and he arrived just to see Wooyoung do the same.

Light, this was a mess.

A mess he’d contributed to, a mess he could’ve prevented, a mess he would have prevented if he’d known how bad it’d end up being.

Yeosang lowered his eyes as his tail swished, bringing him closer to the platform. Wooyoung’s distressed cries were exhausted, cracking and shaking as his partner’s throat trembled. He blinked and watched as San rubbed Wooyoung’s back, shushing him like a Matriarch might shush a newborn.

San was… San was good for Wooyoung. Yeosang couldn’t ignore the obvious. San knew how to be there for him when he needed it, knew exactly how to soothe him.

He pulled himself onto the only available portion of the platform, head bowed and fins laid flat against his body.

San reached out and gently rubbed the Reef Mer’s neck gills closed. The skin was fragile, the flesh of the gills weak and soft, and with a firm and warm hand closing the gills he only felt comfort and safety.

He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against Wooyoung’s side.

San kept gently rubbing both of the Mer’s shushing them slowly and methodically. Yeosang felt Wooyoung’s hand move and find his own, his partner holding him tightly.

Maybe… Yeosang hummed reassuringly. Maybe San was good for the both of them.

Chapter Text

Hands encircled his wrist with a comfortable warmth, the sudden change in temperature sending him into a sudden shudder, exhaling with a groan. The rest of him hadn’t registered, his senses full of the heat on his wrist. Maybe he was dreaming, whatever he was lying on felt like a cushion of some sort and where he was pressed against it maintained some of his body heat, but that was nothing compared to the hands on his wrist.

He lay in that blissful limbo, eyelids too heavy to lift and body too limp to control, for what could have been a millennia. Time had no meaning, no effect on him as he was carried weightless through the fog in his head.

Eventually, distantly, hazily, there was sound, there were… voices.

And, well, he couldn’t find the strength to care or the energy to investigate.

All at once the darkness receded, his hearing cleared after a high-pitched ringing filled his head and all the memory of what had happened flooded in.

Hongjoong shot forward, gasping like a fish out of water, eyes wide and hands trembling as he reached for something that wasn’t there. Those hands, the warm ones from before, wrapped around his arm to support him as his muscles gave out. He tilted, swaying as his balance tried and failed for return to him.

“Damn it, Hongjoong-hyung. We’re gonna keep doing this?”

Shakily, he looked to the person holding him up and sighed guiltily, “Yunho… I’m sorry.”

Yunho held him up until he could support himself, reminding Hongjoong of the ungodly amount of patience in the man. “No, don’t. Gosh, hyung, don’t apologize. You fainted back at the Centre and didn’t wake up until just now, I should be nicer.”

Hongjoong huffed, resting his head in his hands, “What’d the doctor say?”

“They cleaned the wound and have gotten you on some penicillin,”Yunho gestured to the IV in Hongjoong’s arm. “Also some painkillers. Not too strong, just some tylenol, and they want you to take it easy and by easy I mean stop fucking messing with the same Mer that hurt you. We are free to go when you sign some papers.”

“Great. Where are the papers?” Hongjoong grumbled.

Yunho made a noise of surprise but quieted down as he turned to grab something off the bedside table. Hading them over with the offered pen, Hongjoong quickly signing a couple of lines and handing them back to Yunho.

Throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, he hummed in surprise that his leg wasn’t hurting in response to the movement. Yunho glanced over with concern laced in every inch of his face, and when he realized Hongjoong was fine that the concern melted into gentle exasperation.

Hongjoong stepped onto the pale linoleum and made a short noise of panic when his knee buckled. Yunho swore, grabbing him and holding him to his chest as he leaned over and grabbed two well hidden crutches. “God, just chill, man. We aren’t in a rush.”

“Yes we are, we have to—“

“If you say we have to get back to the Centre I will break your other leg, hyung.”

Hongjoong straightened, shoving the crutches into place and looking up at Yunho’s face with a scowl, “You can’t order me around.”

“Like hell I can. In the last week you’ve been mauled and then subsequently attacked by the very same Mer that mauled you,” Yunho said sharply.

“He didn’t attack me. He didn’t even hurt me again.”

“He literally did, though.” Yunho retorted.

Hongjoong waved his hand, limping away to the door, “We are going back to the Centre and that is final.”

Yunho made no move to leave, “I’m not taking you back there just to have you hurt yourself agqin.”

Hongjoong turned, levelling the younger man with a cold glare, “Stop. You are trying to convince me of something that doesn’t exist.”

“What doesn’t exist? Your lack of self preservation? If so, then yeah. If you think Imm trying to convince you that you will only hurt yourself more by going back, then I guess you’re right. I’m sick of seeing you returning to that place like an addict. You need time to heal, time to rest. Not going back to work the moment your legs can move under you.”

Hongjoong scoffed, “I can take care of myself.”

“Obviously not. The second thqt Mer, Seonghwa, the second Seonghwa got a whiff of you he was tearing your pant leg and bandages off like a rabid animal. You keep trying to improve a situation that only worsens with your involvement.” Yunho stepped closer now, hands full of the papers Hongjoong had signed.

“Are you saying that I’m ruining Seonghwa?” Hongjoong asked incredulously.

Yunho sighed heavily, “You aren’t ruining them, you are ruining yourself. Every moment you spend chasing your dream of fixing this Mer is a second more you spend sacrificing your health.”

“I’m not sacrificing my health!” Hongjoong said, voice beginning to raise.

“Then what do you call that?” The taller man said, gesturing towards the wounded leg emphatically.

“This is a necessary evil for the job.”

“A necessary— Kim Hongjoong don’t make me laugh. You are bleeding yourself dry, for us caretakers, for the Mer, for the Centre itself. When will it be enough for you, hyung? When will all the suffering be enough?”

Hongjoong scoffed loudly, “I’m fine.”

“Fine?! You don’t even have a proper dining table, man. You don’t have a well-rounded diet. You sleep just enough to stay up and running. When is the last time you went to therapy?!”

Hongjoong’s head lifted, “Don’t you dare bring my therapist into this.”

Yunho let out a bitter laugh, “I am absolutely bringing your therapist into this. You need to start thinking about you, Hongjoong.”

Hongjoong turned, stepping out of the room supported by the crutches, “I’m not having a self-help conversation right now.”

Yunho’s footsteps got closer and closer until a hand grabbed his bicep and said lowly, “You are killing yourself, hyung. I love you too much to let you do this to yourself.”

Hongjoong scoffed, “If you can’t let me do what I want, you don’t love me.”

“You have a very sad view of love if you think that I’d let you destroy yourself.”

Hongjoong made a noise in his throat. He made a move to step away when Yunho grabbed him and pinned him against the doorframe, “No. You don’t get to run away this time. You are staying and listening.”

“I’ll fire you if you don’t let me go.”

“You don’t have the balls to fire me when you know I’m necessary for this entire operation to work. Now, you listen here. None of those Mer need you. If we opened the Ocean Gate and set them free, they’d figure it out, maybe even make their own Orphan Pod, maybe start their own Pod with a female. Those boys can live without you. But San?! Jongho? Me?! We need you. We need you and your strength and your leadership. We need your dedication and love. No matter how much you love those Mer, the people in that in the Centre need you the most. Your job isn’t to die trying to make the Mer perfect, your job is to help the caretakers help them.”

Hongjoong glared up at him, eyes red and shiny, “Shut up—“

Yunho clenched his jaw, “No, you shut the fuck up. I’m trying to help you. Your life is worth so much more than you’ve given yourself credit for and it’s infuriating to see you crumble under the stress of the Centre and your own personal expectations. Either you recover or you’ll crack under the stress and never get better.”

Hongjoong let out a pitiful choked laugh and whispered as a tear ran down his face, “That a threat, Yunho?”

Yunho released him, stepping back and saying  with the hint of a whine in the back of his throat, “You want to find out?”

Hongjoong sniffled and stepped away, leading them down the hallway to the desk of a nurse, head bowed and eyes watery. Yunho gave the papers to the nurse, thanking her and following Hongjoong to the elevator.

Inside, Hongjoong avoided his eyes and stared at the ground, “I’m not sorry for doing what I love.”

“And I’m not sorry for helping my best friend,” Yunho replied softly.

Nothing more was uttered, not to the soccer mom van, not on the drive to Hongjoong’s apartment and not while Yunho boiled up a couple ramen packs and not while Hongjoong laid on his pitiful bed with a full stomach for once in a while.

What else was there to say?

How could he explain himself when the words coming out of his mouth were all coming out wrong?

Hongjoong held his plushie to his chest, burying his head in the soft fake fur.

Maybe one day he’d say the right words, enough to soothe the worries of those around him.

Maybe one day he’d listen to the words they uttered to him with tearful eyes and worried lines drawn deep in their face.

Maybe one day Hongjoong would learn that he was worth all the trouble.

Today? Today he fell asleep with rage stirring in his stomach and a headache building at his temples, knowing that the man sleeping on his couch wasn’t going to leave until Hongjoong was better.

No one would know it, but he found comfort in that fact.

It felt good to be wanted even if his heart twisted with indignation.

Chapter Text

Memories, dull, hazy, wrapped in fog and time,  pressed in like a warm current along the Light filtered waters.

He knew they were long since passed but for a moment, Seonghwa let himself get lost.

“Little eel, little eel, wake up my precious one,” a gentle voice crooned next to his ear as his body came alive from where he had slumbered, wrapped carefully in kelp by his Protector’s claws and watched dutifully by his older siblings.

He blinked the dragging feeling of unconsciousness out of his eyes, looking to the soft, round face of his Matriarch, who stared at him with a kind expression full of affection. He chirped, a noise that he’d known since his first days, and moved to place rounded little claws onto his Matriarch excitedly.

She crooned again, biting him free from the kelp and gathering him in her arms.

His tail fit perfectly in the curve of her arm, his small body snug against the warm flesh that pulsed with a strong, steady heartbeat. He was made, perhaps even carved from the sand, to rest seamlessly against his Matriarch. He did not know much but he knew that this Mer holding him like he was the most fragile thing she’d ever touched was the most important thing he would ever have in his life. She was his and he was hers and he was content to cuddle in her arms forever.

The water moved, the Matriarch’s powerful tail sending them away from the kelp forest and into the open waters of the sea. Rumbling against him, he listened as his mother chirped to the other members of the pod. To his siblings and the Protectors and the Lead Protector who looked at the Matriarch with all the love in the sea floating in his eyes.

One memory drifted away in the tide, another taking its spot swiftly.

The feeling of focus and frustration that came with hunting never seemed to get easier to handle.

Before Seonghwa’s growing claws was a crab, brandishing a large claw of its own and beady eyes in his direction as it skittered sideways towards the curve of a coral and the safety of the shadows.

Seonghwa lashed his tail, blocking the crab from its path and baring his teeth in lieu of the threat displays he’d seen his Protectors do. This tiny shelled prey was testing his patience.

He flared his claws and made a fake-start, twisting as the crab moved towards where it had thought he’d go. Seonghwa grabbed the shell and barrelled towards the rock to attempt to break its protective barrier. The crab moved, legs fighting this way and that as it tried to escape.

Just as Seonghwa was about to impale the crab on a sharp rock, the little thing moved its big claw and grabbed the small Mer’s sensitive, small wrist.

The pain was unlike any he’d felt before in his short life, white hot and sudden in its tsunami through his mind. Seonghwa let out a violent, high-pitched cry, releasing his grip and wildly waving his arm around as he tried to dislodge the attacker.

He heard concerned warbling and let out a keen of distress, the crab only holding tighter. Seonghwa screeched, large and familiar claws sweeping him up and instantly ripping the crab from its place assaulting his wrist.

Sobbing, the tiny Mer was bundled into a tight and protective hold as the Mer who’d saved him rushed through the water and expertly swept around reef and rock towards the Pods main home cave.

Looking up through tears, he realized with a thundering heartbeat and a feeling of warmth spreading through his chest that the chest he was held against was his Lead Protector. The Mer was large, much smaller than the Matriarch, but impressive in size otherwise. The colors were bright, much like a Blue Tang or a Ribbon Eel, but throughout the entirety of his body was an assortment of criss-crossing scars. His eyes were a pale orange and one had a deep gouge above and below, the color inside paler than the other. He was scary, but he was Seonghwa’s Protector and he felt at peace in these trustworthy arms.

The Lead Protector gently nuzzled him as he flared his fins and stopped in the sandy clearing in the middle of rock that had been carved to fit the entirety of the Pod with room to spare.

The Matriarch lay curled up in the corner with fresh wounds from a shark bite exposed as she rested in the shade. The moment they swept in, she was blinking awake with the beginnings of a growl in her throat.

The moment she saw Seonghwa and the sore skin of his wrist, her eyes were wide and she was bursting forward with sudden energy, sweeping him into her arms and momentarily giving the Lead Protector an affectionate nip to the forehead.

Seonghwa whined, pain and confusion and frustration all burning within his chest as he brought his wrist forward, presenting the injured and bruising flesh to her.

The Matriarch mimicked his whine, whispering hoarsely, “Baby, baby, mine. Who hurt you, my little eel?”

Seonghwa wailed now, ears pinning and tail writhing as her claws carefully pulled his tiny wrist closer to her eyes.

The Matriarch trilled, hugging him close and carefully pinning his arm to her chest as she curled back up in her corner and began grooming the soft hair on his head. He knew there was no blood. He knew it was only a pinch. But that was the most pain he had ever experienced and his little heart couldn’t bear it.

But lying here, with his Matriarch gently cleaning him, he would survive.

The memory filtered out, Seonghwa exhaled quietly and dug his long and thin curved claws into his skull, his throat stressing as he released a similar keen to the one he had when he was younger.

He was in pain, so much pain, just like then. Seonghwa just wanted his mom. He just wanted his mom. He just wanted his mom. He just wanted his mom. He wanted his mom. His mom, his mom, his mom. HE JUST WANTED HIS MOM… He just wanted—

Another memory rushed in, breath catching in his throat.

Pinning the shape to the sand, Seonghwa released a high-pitched yowl and nipping at his prey’s gills.

The Mer in his hold writhed, “No biting! Against the rules, you worm! No biting!”

Seonghwa bopped him on the head and stuck out his tongue. Swinging his tail, he moved away and regarded one of his older brothers with a mischievous grin. “I’m not a worm! I’m an eel, Matriarch says so!”

His brother hissed, flaring his fins at the smaller Mer. Seonghwa recognized the tilt of his brother’s head, the flick of an ear, and bolted away, squealing happily.

Behind him, he could hear his pursuer giggling too and he, for a moment, felt the absolutely bliss of this moment.

Seonghwa gasped violently, thrashing and screaming, begging for whatever ears that could hear for him to be free from this hell in his head.

His injured arm twinged in pain and even though he flinched he could barely feel it through the ringing in his ears and the burning in his chest.

His brothers, his brothers were gone. His sisters were gone. His parents were gone.

They were all gone—

In the shade of his Pod’s reef home, Seonghwa had lain shaking and pale, body convulsing against his will and vision dull.

Something had stung him on an adventure around the reef days ago and yet his condition hadn’t improved.

His body shook, his skin cold and his eyes bloodshot. Any sleep was restless, and naps were short. His brain felt like sand in his claws.

Gentle claws prevented his head from slamming into the sand floor, others smoothed his tail out and even more coaxed fresh killed fish into his mouth and down his throat.

Time held no true meaning to him in this state, but he didn’t need time to tell him they’d been there since he’d been dragged back into the cave by his older sister.

Into his hair whispered the comforting voice of his Matriarch, “I know, my little one. I know. You’re so strong. You’ve done so well. If you must leave, then go, it’s okay. We’ll take care of what you leave behind. You can go.”

Another voice, muffled and further away, said brokenly, “He will die?”

The Matriarch hummed gently, grooming the small Mer’s hair, “If he must. He has fought well, his body is weak. We must be ready for whatever may happen.”

The other voice let out an agonized cry. Several more crooned reassurance and those hands pet his violently shaking body.

Days later, after even more days of care and whispered pleas and prayers and hands warming him, the shaking eventually stilled, eyes fluttering.

He had survived, he had survived and they’d all been there. He had survived and it was because of them.

Seonghwa gagged, slamming his head against the wall of the alcove and sobbing louder.

Why? Why was all of this coming back now!? Why!? WHY?!

Sliding down the wall, he pressed further against the cold rock. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to wake up. He wanted to go back to what it was like before.

He was about to begin slamming his head against the wall again when a timid, shaking voice asked, “Seonghwa…?”

There was no one. There was no one. They were all gone. They were all dead.

“Seonghwa, please, can you look at me?”

A keen ripped from his throat, high and pitiful as he shook his head.

“It’ll be okay, it’s hard right now but it’ll be okay.”

Seonghwa sobbed, “No, no, I can’t. They are gone, they’re gone.”

The voice hummed, crooned, a familiar sound. He almost choked when he realized it was familiar, but when he turned, he saw Mingi instead of his brother and began sobbing again.

Mingi shushed him, glancing at the rock separating them as whispering, “I’m going to open this, okay? I’m going to come to you, I will be right there. It’s okay.”

Seonghwa shook his head, “It’s not okay. It’s not okay! They died, they died and everyone thinks I killed them. They died and everyone hates me and I just wish I had died with them. Why was I left alive? Why was it me?!”

Mingi grabbed ahold of the rock and pushed, strength surprising but welcome as the rock moved and the Reef Mer slowly moved inside, closing the rock behind himself and crooning again, “I know, I know. It’ll be okay. You have us now. You have us. We’ll help you.”

Seonghwa didn’t move, trembling as his tears kept flowing, “I don’t deserve this. I don’t—“

Mingi’s arms were around the smaller Mer in the blink of an eye, the warmth…

Oh, the warmth.

He, he hadn’t felt… he hadn’t been hugged…

Seonghwa broke. He broke.

Seonghwa finally let all his broken pieces shatter and went limp into the arms of this stranger.

They were gone.

They were gone.

And everyone thought he killed them.

Chapter Text

Mingi lay in his home pool, curled up half-buried in sand. Loudly, distractingly, Seonghwa’s voice rang with pure and unmistakable agony. Wooyoung and Yeosang had retreated to their own pool, weeping and shaking.

Whatever had happened, it had ruined them, at least temporarily.

Mingi covered his ears, humming to try and cover the noise of the pained Mer’s voice.

He knew this pain. Losing. Coming to terms with loss.

Mingi couldn’t bear it. He’d been there, when he came to this Centre and finally had space to grieve. Finally had space to mourn the loss of younger years he’d never get back.

He’d been taken away from his Pod when he was only a few winters old. In their warm tropical home, Landfolk had ambushed the Pod and captured them in nets. He’d been stolen from his family and then placed in a small cell of stale water and passed from Landfolk to Landfolk.

And eventually he’d be placed in a tank and live there for years, growing and growing until the tank pressed against him and that’s where Yunho would find him.

And with Yunho, he’d find the time and guidance to work through all the twisting urchins in his chest.

And… and he got better. He found happiness. His life changed and Yunho helped him to find the Light.

Mingi blinked, tears in the corners of his eyes.

Maybe… maybe he could help Seonghwa like Yunho helped him.

Mingi shook his head sharply. No. He couldn’t. Yunho and he were special.

Perhaps he could soften the pain though. All Mingi had wanted was warmth and kindness, and he could absolutely give those to Seonghwa.

The Reef Mer climbed out of the sand, flicking fins to remove more minuscule pieces of sand from where they’d pinned against him. He swept his tail and approached the gate keeping him in.

Jongho and San were here and they’d learn of him freeing himself, but he’d never have another chance quite like this.

Pushing the gate open, sounds of Landfolk concern following him as he swam through the channel.

He paused in front of the quarantine pool when he arrived, watching Seonghwa for a moment.

The pink Mer trembled violently, body twitching madly and eyes moving like fish fleeing from sharks. His gills flared and sucked in water with a desperation Mingi hadn’t seen before.

It was like his own body was going into overdrive. It was like a panic attack… but much much stronger. It was like he was stuck in his body and trapped like Mingi had been in those tanks.

Mingi watched as Seonghwa bent over and screamed something bloodied and primal. Claws dug into pale skin and Seonghwa began tearing at sensitive skin, before leaning back and slamming his head against the wall, a cloud of darkness seeping around the back of his skull.

Mingi whimpered, asking quietly, “Seonghwa…?

Blankly, Seonghwa paused and went completely and utterly still.

“Seonghwa, please, can you look at me?” Mingi asked, claws resting on the gate and body leaning forward.

The silent Mer drew in a heavy breath and exhaled a keen that made Mingi’s heart twist and his stomach squeeze. His instincts demanded he flee. This sound would attract predators, it was weakness plainly obvious and loudly.

The thoughtful side of him simply paused, allowed him to take a deep breath and then he said calmly, “It’ll be okay, it’s… hard right now but it’ll be okay.”

Seonghwa whined, saying as tears started up with a ferocity, “No, no, I can’t. They are gone, they’re gone.”

Mingi blinked. That was, honestly, a lot. Seonghwa was probably talking about Merfolk he loved. If he remembered correctly, Seonghwa lost his Pod. But that was pretty long ago. Whatever Wooyoung and Yeosang had said or done or something, it had brought up the grief.

Oh, this poor Mer. Mingi crooned evenly, pushing as much reassurance and care into his voice.

Seonghwa perked up instantly, turned with a speed Mingi hadn’t seen from him before, and upon seeing Mingi promptly sobbed even harder.

Mingi shushed him, wincing and looking at the gate and the surface, where Jongho and San stood nervously. “I’m going to open this, okay? I’m going to come to you, I will be right there. It’s okay.”

Seonghwa shook his head feverishly, eyes still moving wildly in their sockets, “It’s not okay. It’s not okay! They died, they died and everyone thinks I killed them. They died and everyone hates me and I just wish I had died with them. Why was I left alive? Why was it me?!”

Mingi whined a sound that morphed into a croon as he gripped the gate tightly. He pushed it open, slipped inside, and closed it. He ignored the whines and whimpers from the confused Landfolks. He watched Seonghwa, slowly approaching, “I know, I know. It’ll be okay. You have us now. You have us. We’ll help you.”

Seonghwa’s shaking started anew, something more powerful than before, “I don’t deserve this. I don’t—“

Mingi scoffed a broken sound, swimming forward and pulling the bleeding Mer into his arms. Slowly, he pet his hands up and down Seonghwa’s back rubbing at the fins there gently but firmly.

The Mer drew in a single, slow breath, before wailing with the force of his agony, crumpling into Mingi’s grasp fully and heavily.

Seonghwa screamed a sob, claws barely holding him back.

Mingi didn’t mind.

All that mattered was that the Mer in his arms was finally in his arms. This hurting soul pressed into him, trusted him.

This was the best part about helping Merfolk like him.

Healing.

This was the best part.

Chapter Text

Yunho lay on Hongjoong’s couch, legs bunched up to fit under the blankets and fit the couch comfortably, eyes dull and focused on the middle distance.

After two weeks of living with Hongjoong, he’d cleaned up the mold and deep cleaned every inch of every surface he could reach. He had done all the laundry that had been waiting. He had made every speck of dust disappear from this desolate place and even touched up the paint in a few spots.

It was beginning to feel more like a home, even if the emptiness made his heart ache.

Hongjoong had fallen asleep hours ago, Jongho and San sending pictures of Wooyoung and Yeosang cuddling for them to find comfort in which led their little leader to finally pass out after his leg had left him uncomfortable for hours.

Since then, Yunho had been on the couch, unmoving. It was now probably 2 or 3 in the morning, his phone plugged in too far out of reach for him to spend to energy to grab it.

He felt good, physically. There was a sense of content in his bones that be couldn’t explain.

Because emotionally… he was just so tired.

Being in his friend’s desolate home, void of the personality and care that Hongjoong had in the Centre, made him realize just how empty the place the man had to return to really was. Every day, after work, Yunho went home to warmth and happiness and a place he’d designed to be perfect for him. And every day, after work, Hongjoong came here.

It was no wonder he tried to stay at the Centre every day. It was the only place he felt comfortable and safe in.

Yunho blinked, flinching when he realized tears had gathered and were now streaming down his face.

How could he have let this happen? How could he had never looked closer? What kind of friend was he if he let one of his best friends return to this place completely without any gentleness or kindness?

Yunho rubbed his face, muffling a sob as it bubbled into his chest. The tightness in his throat made him tense up.

He had to help Hongjoong get better. He had to help Hongjoong find the zest for life like he’d once had.

Yunho sat up, stared at the furniture, glared at the folding table and chairs, cast sad eyes at the curtain-less windows, and started developing a plan.

He’d make this place feel like home.

He had a few calls to make—He scooted over and grabbed his phone. Oh god, it was 3:56. Uh—

He had a few calls to make… in a few hours.

Yeah, a few hours. He’d sleep till then.

Yunho was out when he laid his head down.

Chapter Text

Hongjoong woke to the strong smell of fresh paint, newly cut wood and a sharp instinctual feeling that his space had been encroached upon.

He blinked, staring up at the water stained ceiling with hazy, sleep-fogged vision. He took another deep breath of air filled with scents he was unfamiliar with, brow furrowing.

His leg ached greatly, cramps running through the muscles in his legs as he blinked. The rest of him was easing into the background, the bruises around his throat paler and smaller day by day. He’d really started to heal, on the other side of an extremely annoying hurdle.

Hongjoong rolled off the mattress onto his knees, grabbing the wall and leaning against it as he pushed himself to his feet. He wanted to go back to sleep, but with whatever the hell was putting him on edge he couldn’t seem to find the strength to lay back down.

He grabbed one of the crutches, having found both to be supportive but excessive. He limped to his door, opening it knowing full well his bedhead was truly atrocious. Whatever dare awaken him at— he checked his phone— 9am was bound to deserve the monstrous appearance he had.

He looked down the hall and just. Stopped. He stared at the three familiar faces staring back with wide grins plastered on their faces.

“Now, don’t be mad,” San said, rocking on his heels as he gave Hongjoong the sweetest goddamn smile.

Jongho smirked, “He’s probably gonna be mad—“

Yunho slapped Jongho on the shoulder, shushing him, “No! None of that attitude!”

“Yea, who’s to say he won’t cry from joy?” San suggested.

Hongjoong raised a hand, the one not holding the crutch, and said when the 3 pairs of eyes had landed on him, “You guys want to clue me in or are we going to keep dancing around the topic?”

Jongho chuckled, a soft and genuine sound that the others perked up at, “How bout you take a few more steps down the hall and see for yourself, hyung.”

Hongjoong dipped his head, limping over and sighed, “I swear if y’all made a mess I’m going to…”

He lifted his head and was instantly near tears.

The walls had fresh coats of an off-white beige, the cabinets a matte white and the countertops with a shiny new layer of marbled white and grey resin. There was an actual wooden table, stained a dark brown that was almost back but in the light of new bulbs had the hint of lighter grain interwoven with the shade. The chairs were black, sleek and modern.

His couch, well, it was a new couch. An entire new couch. Another modern but comfortable grey with several throw blankets tossed over and new pillows sitting in the corners. The TV had been replaced by a new, larger flatscreen. The bookshelves had a fresh coat of paint with the books waiting on a rolling bookshelf next to the shelves.

His floors had been deep cleaned, brighter and now covered in a couple dramatic rugs in front of the couch and under the dining table.

There were framed photos hung on the walls of every Mer he’d taken a picture with, with all the coworkers he’d gotten to know featured in several.

It was stunning and perfect and it was like his apartment was brand new.

These 3 definitely didn’t ask the landlord… but at this point he didn’t give a singular fuck.

Hongjoong didn’t know he’d fallen to the ground until his knees ached in protest and his hands fell limp at his sides, the crutch crashing down dramatically next to him. There were footsteps and then his friends were knelt before him, blurry from his tears.

San watched him, the figure of his friend leaning close for a moment, before he sat back and let out a laugh, “I knew it! I knew it!”

Hongjoong reached out and shoved San away, Yunho sitting down next to him and reaching an arm around to pull him into a hug. There were a couple minutes of quiet, effective after San had sat back up and began waiting patiently. Hongjoong, well, he just sobbed. He just sobbed.

Yunho’s arms settled heavily around him, the heartbeat beneath Hongjoong’s ear was loud and Yunho’s breaths were steady and rhythmic. Jongho’s hand rested on Hongjoong’s knee and eventually San’s hand rested in his outstretched hand.

He scrunched his nose, sniffling and saying after he caught his breath, “You are unbelievable. You are all stupid, unbelievable and I love you. What the actual hell?”

Yunho shrugged, never releasing Hongjoong from the hug, “I was sick of seeing the same walls and realized you were probably stir-crazy by now over them. Just thought we’d spruce the place up a bit.”

“He called us at 5am. We’ve been working nonstop since then,” Jongho elaborated.

“He should never be given your position, he’s way too hard on us. We’re not even at the Centre and Yunho is all bossy.” San complained with a glint in his squinted eyes and wide smile on his face that nearly reached his ears.

Hongjoong sighed, pulling out of the hug and grabbing his crutch as he was lifted to his feet by his friends. He took a longer moment to just enjoy the sight of his apartment. It was like new. It smelled like wood and chemicals but it was a smell that made his heart soar.

His friends had seen his dirty-ass apartment and took it upon themselves to clean and freshen it up. They’d painted as he slept, brought in new furniture without waking him, and managed to be ready the moment he stepped into the hall.

God, he hated these idiots.

God, he loved them so much.

Here, away from the Centre, it was like his emotions were heightened and free. He couldn’t help the choked sobs that worked through his chest with a new vigour. It was perfect.

They had bought him an entire new TV. Holy shit.

He stepped towards the couch, feet sinking comfortably into the new rug. The rug was definitely a statement piece, with an ocean theme with a bunch of nice woven merfolk, dolphins, sharks, fish, turtles, and rays.

He sat on the couch, setting his crutch aside and burying his face in his hands.

It was change, a considerable change, but overall in the grand scheme of things, this was insignificant. It was small compared to the rest of his life but his entire heart shook with the care shown to him.

Physically, he was healing.

And, well, it looked like mentally he was too.

Chapter Text

Jongho stood in front of the refrigerator situated in the veterinary wing of the Pool Room, a sanitized bucket in his arms and various sizes and species of frozen and refrigerated fish ready for him to choose from, labelled clearly and organized cleverly by himself and Eden when Eden. His arm rested against the bucket, pinning it to his chest as his other hand hovered in the air indecisively in front of the shelves of the fridge. He didn't know how long he had been standing there, just that his legs ached and his back expressed its disagreement in his prolonged upright pose.

He blinked slowly, stretching his neck and looking around. In the quarantine pool, Seonghwa was pacing sluggishly, breaching the surface every couple of minutes and surveying the area. In Pool 1, Mingi was going through recall training with Yunho, who had traded his watching over Hongjoong with San. In Pool 2, Wooyoung and Yeosang slept on the training platform, half submerged in water and still somehow comfortable.

Jongho blinked. He couldn't see them, but he knew that their other patient was in Pool 4, and quietly enjoying the new toys San had given them the day before.

His head hurt, honestly. With another long, exaggerated blink, he finally realized he was supposed to be grabbing food for Seonghwa. His hands strayed subconsciously to the largest fish in the fridge, and without questioning it he grabbed several.

He put several into the bucket, turning and closing the refrigerator. Jongho approached the quarantine pool, kneeling on the padded floor and splashing the surface of the water, "Come here. Time for food."

The Mer, who had since had the splint removed, swam slowly towards him with inquisitive eyes and a slight curl in his upper lip. They'd discovered that, although heavily food motivated, Seonghwa was also incredibly food aggressive and when given fish he became that much more territorial.

Jongho sighed, blinking slowly again. Gosh, what was with his head today?

Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of Seonghwa waiting before him with curved claws held to his chest and tail still behind him. Jongho brought his whistle to his mouth, raising a hand and beckoning for the Mer's underbelly.

Seonghwa looked at him, exasperation clouding his features and anger building in his face and the ways his fins flexed and flattened against his sides. Despite the negativity in his body language, Seonghwa slowly turned, bared part of his stomach and then twisted away before Jongho could reach out and establish contact.

Jongho blew the whistle, tossing one of the large fish into the water and watching as the Mer grabbed it violently and shoved it into his mouth, swallowing the food whole and ignoring Jongho for several moments.

When the Mer was done with the little tantrum, he returned and stared at Jongho expectantly. Jongho swung his hand, instructing a little turn, to which Seonghwa did at an excruciatingly slow pace. This was probably to stick it to Jongho, but he didn't care to give it any more thought. The moment Seonghwa had finished his spin, Jongho tossed the fish into the water again.

They repeated this process through the training they'd established in the last few days. It wasn't anything big, just basic commands that would help to develop more trust between this Mer and the caretakers while he was here. The blood tests had come back positive for pneumonia, not too severe but definitely something to watch.

Agh, that's what Jongho forgot! He needed to add meds to Seonghwa's fish. Seonghwa still had another couple feedings today, so it wouldn't be too much longer before they got him the medication, but it still didn't help Jongho's already tired and strained brain to know he'd forgotten something important for Seonghwa's health.

Jongho stood, knees creaking in protest. He washed out and sanitized the bucket and set it down on a rack to dry. He needed to get it together.

Jongho went to the quarantine pool and watched Seonghwa, taking out his phone and writing notes on the Mer's condition and behaviors for their records. They'd eventually have to get Seonghwa microchipped and put a tracker in the meat of the Mer's tail so that other Merbiologists could record where this Mer traveled and cross-reference it with other tracked Mer's so they could get a general idea of the populations.

This... well... They had to do it. Tracking the Mer, that is.

Knowing full well how intelligent these beings were, it felt extremely wrong to place devices into them without their consent, strictly for the purpose of knowing where they were at all times. Seonghwa was just the next Mer in the long line of Merfolk having their autonomy ripped away by the system that was meant to protect them. Afterall, nothing was perfect and... sometimes they had to sacrifice complete privacy just so that the government would acknowledge the intelligence of these creatures.

Jongho pressed a hand to his forehead, putting pressure on the bridge of his nose as if that could get rid of the building headache under his skin.

"Hey, Jongho, wanna bring me some more small fish? I'm gonna see if I can teach Wooyoung and Yeosang to do high-fives!" Yunho exclaimed, voice carrying through the room.

Jongho exhaled evenly, "Yea, sure." He grabbed a new bucket, going to the fridge and filling the bucket half-way with small fish, closing the door to the refrigerator and walking to Pool 1. Jongho offered the bucket and smiled, "Delivery!"

Yunho smiled widely in return, giving Jongho his empty bucket and taking the one with fish, "Thanks! Really appreciate it."

"Why teach them high-fives though? Doesn't really serve a purpose."

Yunho shrugged, "For funsies, you know how it is. Gotta keep things funky and fresh."

Jongho nodded. What else did he expect? "I'll get this cleaned up and then write some notes on Mingi for the records."

"That sounds like a plan." Yunho gave him a thumbs up and knelt next to the two slumbering Mer. Jongho watched as the tall man quietly slipped his hands into the hair of both and gave them scritches. Wooyoung made a distinct chuffing noise while Yeosang trilled like a startled cat.

Jongho walked back to the veterinary wing, cleaning this bucket and sanitizing it, setting it down to dry next to the previous one.

Some days, actually most days, it was monotonous and kind of boring work. The Merfolk themselves were never boring but the repetitive shit like cleaning? Got old within the first few weeks of working at the Centre. It had been a long time since then, and with every passing day he wished he could just put on a soccer match on the TV in the break room and just never move from that couch. He was content to die watching Lionel Messi scoring another goal.

He walked over to Pool 1, sitting on the ground and dangling his legs into the water, kicking them around lazily as he started writing down some notes.

He was several pages into his notes in a google doc when his phone screen went blurry and the caller screen pulled up, interrupting him annoyingly. When he realized the call was from San, his entire heart began to race with a violence he'd never thought possible.

With shaking fingers, he pressed accept on the call and moved the phone to his ear, "Yeah, hyung? Wassup?"

"The doctor gave the all-clear for Hongjoong to start doing light work. Code Red, the Captain is returning to the Ship. I repeat, the Captain is returning to the Ship!" San cried, "He escaped and got to his car! He'll be there in T-Minus 10 minutes!"

Chapter Text

San tore down the street like a man driving his pregnant wife to the hospital, except... he wasn't married, nor had a wife, nor had ever gotten anyone pregnant. Hongjoong had slipped out while he was in the bathroom, that scamp, and now he was forced to break traffic laws in order to stop that suicidal maniac from launching himself head-first into a pool.

He slammed on the breaks as a red light prevented him from going forward like he'd been planning. Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he glanced at the other cars and their drivers, head spinning. What would that rascal do? Yunho and Jongho were there, and Wooyoung and Yeosang and Mingi were all on their side, but Seonghwa was an absolute wild card. That Mer had gone from aggressive, to not so aggressive, to whatever he was now.

The light went green and he sped forward, racing down the street and moving into the left lane, watching the turn for the Centre approach at a rapid rate. He merged into the median, his blinker on, and the moment several oncoming cars passed he sped into the parking lot and skidded to a stop in the staff parking, seeing that Hongjoong's car was already there.

San leapt out of his car, closing the door and locking it before racing into the employee entrance. The Pool Room felt miles away as he ran through the hall, human and merfolk voices muffled behind the doors. San passed through the doorway, the voices so much louder now that he was in the echoing chamber.

The patient from before was quiet in their pool, breaching the surface with a hum of discontent as Mingi, Wooyoung and Yeosang all vocalized excitedly. Jongho and Yunho stood between Pool 1 and Pool 2, Hongjoong standing opposite them with a stylized cane in his hand.

Seonghwa was no where to be seen, but from the rumbling sound in the quarantine pool he was likely waiting for the short blue-haired man to visit with him as well.

San released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in, sighing and wiping the nervous sweat from his brow and saying as the human voices quieted at his arrival, "Hongjoong, you bastard!"

The man in question turned around, met him with a mischievous grin, and said snarkily, "You have little faith in me, Sannie. I'm, frankly, insulted!"

Yunho snorted, "He tried to run directly to Seonghwa's pool the moment he got here--"

Hongjoong slapped the taller man's shoulder, saying, "You weren't supposed to tell him that, you idiot! Now he knows!"

"He was gonna find out anyway, hyung. That's the way the cookie crumbles in this house," Jongho interjected.

Wooyoung pulled his upper body onto the edge of the pool, eyes locked lovingly onto Hongjoong, "Joong! You feel better?!"

The man knelt, his hurt leg the one supporting him shakily, "I'm much better, no more infection but still gotta take some meds and go to the doctor in a couple weeks. You know how it is."

The Ocean Mer nodded excitedly, trilling as if it had been years since he'd seen Hongjoong when it had been, in fact, not even 7 full days. Maybe they should be more concerned about seperation anxiety within their residents, San thought quietly.

San approached the group, helping Hongjoong to stand while Yeosang pulled his partner back into the water, the two engaging in a play-fight the moment Wooyoung was submerged. Jongho rubbed at the corners of his eyes, blinking slow and smiling at San when he glanced over.

Poor kid probably had a migraine. It was only a couple months since his last big migraine and that had been catastrophic. Nothing like your coworker falling like a sack of bricks into a Merfolk's pool. Definitely didn't traumatize anyone. Nope.

San sighed and said as Yunho and Hongjoong began their small-talk again, "So, now that the calvary is all here, we can go visit the quarantine pool."

Mingi whined from behind Jongho, surfacing and meeting the groups eyes as they turned to look at him. Yunho was the one to kneel down this time, voice warm as he asked sweetly, "Sorry, we didn't mean to ignore you. You doin' ok, princess?"

Mingi nodded, "Yes, scared for Hongjoong-ie."

Hongjoong knelt, looking with a smile, "I'm alright, bud. I'm okay. You don't gotta worry anymore."

Mingi preened under the attention, bobbing his head, "That's good. That's good. You go visit Hwa."

Hongjoong patted the Mer's head, stood and said as he looked at the group with large, shining eyes, "Can we go now?"

Jongho huffed, "You act like we are your parents taking you to the zoo. Stop. You are, what? 30?"

"I'm not even 26 yet, asshole!" Hongjoong replied.

Yunho stood after petting Mingi's head, leading the group, "Alrighty, fine. You've been patient enough."

Hongjoong gave a tiny horray, San bringing up the rear of the group as they moved to the quarantine pool.

The Mer, pink skin flashing under the light, surfaced a couple times before breaching in front of the group. Seonghwa's sharp eyes flitted over each person, establishing eye contact for several seconds before moving to the next.

It was like he was testing them, trying to see who would fold under the Mer's gaze. Jongho and Yunho looked away instinctively, respecting the assumed seniority of the being before them. San could only last a few seconds before those eyes and the intensity of them forced him to look away with the hairs on the back of his neck raising.

Hongjoong, though? Hongjoong didn't look away. San watched the two as they stared, the   Mer causing vibrations in the water with the power of an acknowledging rumble that ripped through his throat. Seonghwa's eyes seemed to search the short man's own, looking for something that the humans just wouldn't understand. San wished he could peer into this individual's mind, wished he could have access to the complicated thought patterns and behaviors that the Merfolk hid within their skull.

Hongjoong's own gaze was steely, firm, and somehow glimmered with compassion. He was an open book with just his eyes.

San made a tiny gasp as Seonghwa looked away first, the rumble turning into a croon and his head leaning back to bare his throat submissively.

They'd...

That was...

Seonghwa had deferred to Hongjoong, had expressed his respect for the human that just a couple weeks ago he had been attempting to maul.

This was... almost unheard of.

Every time humans and Merfolk fought, it was bloody and gruesome. It only occured in captive settings and was almost strictly caretaker and mer interactions. Mer that showed aggression to any human typically continued to show aggression no matter how the relationship evolved from the first altercation.

But this? This was new!

Seonghwa was respecting the man he'd tried to kill. He was treating Hongjoong like a Challenger who had defeated him.

San slapped Hongjoong's shoulder, "Dude! Dude what the hell was that!? That is so fucking cool!"

Hongjoong didn't say anything, eyes locked on the Mer as he knelt down at the edge of the pool, hand reaching out and softly establishing contact against the Mer's bare throat.

Seonghwa leaned into the--Seonghwa leaned into the touch?!

San could feel his eyes bulge out of his head.

This was.

Wow.

This was history in the making!

Seonghwa moved away only after the blue-haired man took his hand away, the Mer turning and showing the group of humans his stomach with more speed than he'd ever shown the caretakers before.

Hongjoong smiled, "Thank you, bud. You don't have to do that if you don't want to."

The Mer looked at him, blinking slowly much like a cat would, and turned away.

Hongjoong turned back to the group with a calm smile, which quickly fell the moment he realized every single one of them was staring back with jaws agape and eyes wide. "Did I do something wrong?"

Chapter Text

The Landfolk were buzzing with energy, Seonghwa noted as he swam in lazy circles in the alcove. He had been getting regularly delivered prey, which hinged on him twisting and turning in uncomfortable directions before the Landfolks. It was, well, it was a small price to pay for sustenance but it was annoying and insulting nonetheless.

They expected him to twirl and dance for them just to eat? They thought low of him.

And they didn’t seem to understand the implications of what they asked of him. Being vulnerable meant submission, meant giving up control, meant doing all the things Seonghwa had spent his life avoiding by living in the deep away from the Light.

They wanted themselves to be authority over him.

Seonghwa didn’t like this but he did like to have a full stomach and they hadn’t taken advantage of his complacency so far.

The youngest of the Landfolk, which the other Mer referred to as ‘Jongho’, knelt at the edge of the waters. In his hand was a weird shiny rock that had been hollowed out. It smelled distinctly of fish.

Seonghwa lifted his head and regarded the Landfolk with a snarl low in his throat. Every day it was the same. Submit. Eat. Submit. Eat. Submit. Eat.

They wanted him below him in the hierarchy he had unwillingly entered.

He watched as Jongho’s eyes unfocused and his hands came up to rub at his face. Seonghwa didn’t like the twitch in their hand and the furrow in their brow. It indicated pain. These Landfolk were horrible at hiding their pain, but it only made it easier to recognize which was the weakest. The Landfolk called San had long since stopped limping, though favored his right side. The Landfolk called Yunho seemed unaffected but upon closer inspection his left arm had a slight tremor and his body leaned ever so slightly towards that arm’s side.

They were battle-hardened even if it wasn’t shown through visible scars.

Jongho was just the latest to succumb to his weakness.

Seonghwa huffed, swimming forward and waiting just out of reach for the Landfolk to regain his composure. His claws rested against his chest, tail still as he floated in place.

Jongho blinked slowly after a moment, a twinge of pain in the corner of his eye as he reached up and pushed the weird whistling thing into his mouth.

Seonghwa’s brow furrowed further as the Landfolk did a weird hand signal. He’d learned over the last week that this meant: bare your belly. With his ears pinning, he reluctantly turned, his belly exposed to open air for a few moments.

Jongho reached for his stomach as he whistled high and clear, Seonghwa twisting away at the last second to avoid the touch and at the same time grappling the fish that had been tossed before him. Wasting no time, the Mer swallowed the fish and waited for the adrenaline to die down.

He finally returned to attention, watching Jongho as the human continued with this weird song and dance.

They did several more, all forcing Seonghwa to obey before being allowed to eat.

The moment the rock was pulled away, he was turning away and returning to his lazy circles though this time with a full stomach.

Whenever he wasn’t being used, we had found that moving had made him feel good. The constant swish of water against his tail and the feeling of gliding through self-made currents brought him comfort and he couldn’t help but drift into his emotions as the methodical movements tore his thoughts from him.

They had removed the sticks on his arm, which had stopped hurting as much. His breathing was getting easier but his brain still held a level of fog he was uncomfortable with and his chest still felt tight and constricting with every breath.

He longed for the days when he could swim free but here at least he had food.

The other Mer had visited a few times. Mingi had proven to be a comforter and even if he didn’t mean to, he started viewing the younger male as a Protector. The Landfolk actually let him into Seonghwa’s alcove too. The Reef Mer was a warm and pleasant individual and Seonghwa had found himself falling asleep in the arms of a stranger more than once.

Yeosang was a quiet and friendly Mer, the deep scars and missing sections of fin indicating something terrible had happened and still he was kind despite it. The Reef Mer was a soft and reassuring voice, too. His croons were uncommon sounds for Seonghwa but they were genuine and he could feel the power behind this little eel’s vocalizations.

Wooyoung… Wooyoung didn’t visit as much. He visited once, the Ocean Mer being a skittish and high-strung individual. Perhaps it made sense, with the scent of Yeosang lingering close to him, that this Mer had something to protect and therefore found fear with a stranger like Seonghwa.

Wooyoung hadn’t proven himself any more hostile.

There were a couple close calls when Seonghwa was delirious with hunger or his sickness that had led to Wooyoung fleeing from his claws reaching through the holes in the rock preventing him from escaping.

He blinked, changing the direction of his pacing.

The Landfolk weren’t too bad, if he had to give them any real thought.

Unlike the ones that brutally slaughtered his family, these individuals were caring and gentle and worked with Seonghwa instead of against him.

And sure, it felt nice to sometimes have a gentle, unclawed hand rubbing the spots around his head fins, but they were still monsters.

They were weird and looked like Mer but with legs and neutral, boring coloration.

Except…

Except the one Landfolk he’d hurt. That one had blue hair and bright brown-orange eyes that looked like his mother— his Matriarch’s eyes.

He shook his head.

He shouldn’t be thinking this way.

The moment he was at full strength he was tearing out of this hell and returning to his territory to hide from the Light and return to his self-imposed vigil.

Though was it really a vigil if he had given up completely?

Seonghwa shook his head again, tail slapping the surface of the water as he sent himself around the alcove again.

He was probably working himself up and would regret to more intense swimming later.

He had barely swam when the first week.

Seonghwa growled loudly, sending himself out of those thoughts.

When he finally looked above the waterline, he realized that the Landfolk were all gathered at the edge of the water… including the weird one with his Matriarch’s eyes and weird hair that looked nothing like the other Landfolk’s.

He swam closer, stopping before them and staring each one down. Yunho and Jongho looked away, wisely respectful of him. He was probably many, many years older than them. They had some common sense it seemed.

He looked at San, who had caused him quite a lot of trouble over the last week.

San wasn’t mean, for a Landfolk at least. He was considerable. He fed him. He was enthusiastic.

He was also brazen and confident and it made Seonghwa’s gills flare and his ears pin.

San was like a calf with their fresh adult coloration, flaunting himself proudly.

Seonghwa glared at San as the eye contact surpassed respectful lengths, and slowly the Landfolk glanced away, taking a step away from him.

Lastly, the Landfolk who he hadn’t cared to remember the name of yet. The blue haired one. The one that limped and winced because of a well placed claw.

Those eyes…

Light, they really were like his Matriarch. Even down to the golden flecks on the lower side of the iris, stormy grey surrounding their pupils in like a fog over the sea.

Seonghwa let out a hollow groan, his emotions rising like a flood in his head and even his eyes. Tears threatened at the corners of his eyes and after a few more seconds, he blinked, letting the tears fall and crooning his acceptance to this Landfolk.

Instinctively, his head moved and his throat became accessible. His tears streamed down his face.

It was like he was finally accepting his Matriarch was gone through the eyes of a stranger.

And, well, as more tears burned down his skin he couldn’t help the inaudible sob that burst forth.

Warmth rubbed firmly along the sensitive skin on his throat, Seonghwa opening his eyes and meeting the gentle, caring gaze of the Landfolk. The Mer couldn’t stop himself from leaning into the touch. Couldn’t stop his claws twitching upwards as if to grab the Landfolk and hold him back.

The moment that warmth was removed from his skin, he made the realization that, that maybe the Landfolk before him would accept his apology if he showed vulnerability. Maybe he would be forgiven for ever touching this Landfolk if he just…

Seonghwa rolled onto his back, stomach touching the air again and sending shivers of discomfort up his spine and down his tail.

He opened his eyes and watched the Landfolk, who gave him a warm smile and dipped his head, murmuring something Seonghwa couldn’t understand.

As more tears spilled from his eyes and into the water, he blinked his thanks to the Landfolk, turning onto his stomach and sinking further into the water.

Light, he was a mess.

Not long ago he had been full of bloodlust, willing to slit this individual’s throat.

And now, he drifted to the floor of the alcove with sobs in his chest as he realized the Landfolk wasn’t mad or vengeful.

Seonghwa brought a hand to his face, much like little Jongho had done earlier, and covered his eyes as he openly wept.

Chapter Text

Darkness.

Complete and utter darkness.

It lay across him like a blanket, heavy and comforting whilst warming his body where he was lying.

Stress crept at the edges of his consciousness, his heartrate beating like a drum in his chest. The monotonous feeling drew his thoughts into the abyss, the tide of sleep pushing him out to sea.

And then whatever he was laying on moved beneath him and his brain jumpstarted and suddenly he was blinking away the remnants of a dreamless nap.

The Pool Room was oddly quiet, considering it was midday and the viewing areas were open to the public. If he listened closely, he could hear the thrum of footsteps or the pump of seawater through the building, but the room itself was void of the thunderous cacophony of his coworkers.

Hongjoong groaned, rolling onto his side and looking at the Mer that was effectively his pillow.

Pink and white skin interwoven with scales of the same color was the brilliant coloring of one of his best friends, long fins drifting lazily in the waters of the quarantine pool. The torso gills were half-submerged, twitching as the Mer breathed.

Seonghwa lay with his head drapped over his arms, face pressed into the fold of his inner elbow. Long, carefully braided hair swept over the Mer's shoulder and delicately filed claws held onto Hongjoong tightly.

The Mer had been given his own pool, next to Wooyoung and Yeosang's in front of the viewing window, but they'd made it a habit to come to the quarantine pool and its padded section of floor hidden from view to nap together.

Yes, Hongjoong had to admit it was hypocritical of him to tell off the others for napping next to their favorite Mer, but Seonghwa really liked these cuddle sessions and it seemed to do wonders for his socialization, so Hongjoong was more than willing to take one for the team.

No, Hongjoong didn't know about the betting pool on whether or not Seonghwa would let the man sleep on his chest like an otter would its pup.

Hongjoong blinked, taking in the beautiful image of the pink Mer curled up, ears twitching in his sleep and face set in a relaxed and unbothered expression.

He reached out slowly, tucking a piece of the Mer's hair behind those long ears, and he leaned down pressing a kiss to Seonghwa's temple.

In his sleep, the Mer crooned happily, lips twitching into a smile and body subconsciously chasing the man's touch.

It had been months since the Mer had been brought into the Centre, months since he'd hurt Hongjoong, months since they'd found respect for each other.

And it had been mere days since they'd expressed that they saw each other as partners.

Partners, dedicated and emotionally attached beyond just friends. Partners with an infinite depth of love.

Hongjoong smiled softly, laying back and curling into the Mer's side, those strong arms and gentle claws moving to press the man into cool, soft skin.

Yeah, he loved this idiot.

His eyes drifted closed, body feeling more and more distant as his brain sifted away with the sands of sleep.

But, just before he could be swept away, he felt a nudge and heard Seonghwa make a pleased purr and suddenly the Mer was giving him a kiss on his temple just as Hongjoong had moments before.

He fell asleep knowing he was safe and loved.

Hongjoong fell asleep with the Mer who had changed his life.